Ashes A Cinderella Story
by James and the Bluejay
Summary: Ranma's pal Hiroshi makes a wish and gets more than he bargained for, when he stumbles into an old curse and heavenly interference.
1. Three Threads

As my first post on on I offer this story. If you have read it before on FFML, then there have not been enough modifications to warrent reading it again. If you have not, then enjoy this tale of gender-bending, mystery, romance, ancient curses and general mayhem. Elements of R1/2, AMG and CCS. 

Disclaimer: Hmmm. Rumiko Takahashi and Viz and a whole bunch more have dibs on Ranma et al, Fujishima Kousuke and Animeigo takes credit for associating Urd of Norse mythology with kawaii features and a computer engineering degree, Cinderella is an old fairy tale, which leaves me with Hainoko and Kidori, who are derivative and belong to everyone. Basho belongs to himself. Not to worry, since I don't figure on making any money off this, anyway.

Caution: Loose Canon.

ASHES - A Cinderella Story

Chapter One - Three Threads

Three threads of a tale have we,  
Three beginnings you will see,  
Let us warp and let us weave,  
And the first chapter you'll receive.

PROLOGUE:

"Basho."

A voice without dimension, coming from everywhere, raised the platform of his awareness until he realized that darkness no longer was. Curtains of violet and lilac fluttered in the breeze, golden green and olive columns arching to support the expanses, yellow lanterns shedding their glow.

"Basho."

He reached for the fullness of being and fumbled, for being was not. Not yet. The handles, the...the...'things by which being was contacted'...eluded him. The curtains - he must push them aside, so he could see the voice - but which should he try first? There were two. There were a dozen. There were one hundred and one. He selected one at random. The violet curtain parted to produce another set of curtains, these pink and pale yellow.

"Basho!"

The voice was stentorian. Demanding. He knew the being who uttered that command, though the name by which that being was called also eluded him.

"BASHO!"

"Ow!" Basho straightened. He had been slumped over, a rivulet of saliva cascading down the front of his robe. The violet and lilac flowers brushed his eyes, hiding the speaker of the dread summons. That person was...that person was...

"Sensei!"

Basho attempted to rise, which was a mistake, as his limbs chose not to work properly. Fortunately, the sensei caught him before he scattered the candles (and, perhaps, caught his clothes on fire).

"Basho," Sensei spoke more kindly, now that he was assured that the monk had wakened. "You simply have to spend more time in this world."

"Thank you, Sensei. I was only..." Basho halted, his explanation of where he had been frozen by the congestion of details and information he wished to relate. He sat this way for a time, straining to communicate.

"Relax," Sensei advised him. "Let it happen."

"I was..." Again the words eluded him.

Sensei sighed deeply. "It has happened again, has it? You have tried to examine 'why things are.'"

"I was..."

"It is time for you to take your turn and await the summons, and I must return to the outside world, to my old school. While I am gone, you must be vigilant, prepared to respond if the call comes."

"Forgive me, Sensei. I was so close! But when there are two of everything, I feel I must choose one. Each time I choose one of the remaining two, there is always another choice to make. Now I must consider one hundred and one!"

Sensei sighed again, "Then do nothing, Grasshopper."

"Grasshopper?"

"Forget it. An old joke we pulled on a movie company, once."

"And, if I choose nothing, I have failed in my responsibility! A decision goes unmade and it may affect another person! How can I do nothing when someone could get hurt by my inactivity?" Basho wondered querulously, "And how can I find perfection when I keep getting interrupted?"

"Come, then. Since you are so close to your goal, you must strive for it with all your being. Choose a secluded spot and shut out the rest of the world, but remember, you are expected to rise and perform your duty if you are called upon," Sensei began to don the brightly colored clothing he wore in the outside world. "However," he paused to add thoughtfully, "I would not worry about that...we have not had a call for centuries."

"Thank you, sensei! I shall do that!"

--------------

Through the mountain valleys, past sheer cliffs overhanging narrow trails, via trails over breathtaking vistas of rugged rock and hardy green trees, a stranger wandered. A gallant lad he was, husky and muscular, with a boyish charm and innocent demeanor. He might remind you of Prince Charming, on a noble quest, going forth to rescue his fair damsel. Hold that thought, for Prince Charming he was not. He had only one comment to make about the surrounding scenery.

"Where the heck am I now?"

This comment was invariably followed by another, a pensive, thoughtful expression of the depth of feeling in his heart for the woman he adored, "I wonder what Akane is doing?"

Yes, a noble ambition - to survive the wilderness and make it to the side of his true love, where he would find...

The stranger sighed, deeply. He would probably find her shackled to a dull-witted, self-serving clod of a man who did not respect her and who spent his time chasing other women.

"Curse you, Ranma Saotome! When I find you I am going to destroy you!"

Travel is supposed to be broadening. It is not, really. Mostly, travel is loneliness, separated into intervals of too many people going in other directions. Loneliness, taken to extreme, leads to sadness. Sadness, taken to extreme, leads to depression. Depression, taken to extreme -

"SHISHIHOKODAN!"

- leads to huge chunks of mountain-side raining down on the valley floor.

Among the debris was a gray-clad fellow who added, to the rattle and clatter of boulder and stone, his own comment on the nature of man falling to earth.

"Ouch!"

The husky lad ran to extricate the monk from amongst the debris. "I am sorry!" the boy exclaimed, "I did not see you here! Are you okay?"

"I will be when you leave this country!" Basho cried, "You interrupted my meditations yesterday, asking for the way to Furinkan High School. I was in a locked cell! Last week, you appeared on a secluded island with shores so steep the only access is by ladder, and then you thought you had found some dojo. Now, when I sit in my cave to meditate in peace and quiet, you bring the mountain down on me! Tell me where you are going next, so I will not be there!"

"Heh. I am very sorry," the boy said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "I was releasing some nervous energy. I did not mean to disturb you."

"Well, you disturbed me! Now, leave me alone!"

And with that the gray monk hobbled off, and our story begins.

BEGINNING ONE: HIROSHI

My name is Hiroshi. This is my version of what happened. There are some parts of this story where I could not give my first-hand view, but I have done my homework and made it as accurate as possible.

This is how it started.

Part of the story involves my family, particularly my little sister, Hainoko. She is a brat. Don't get me wrong. I am usually pretty cool. I don't blow my top. But that morning I had reached my breaking point.

"Hainoko!" I cried, angrily. Echoes from my voice burst through the morning calm in our small Nerima house. "Hainoko! Where's my Primrose poster? I know you got it!"

"Biiiih!" Hainoko stuck out her tongue, safe behind the stairwell banister where she could dodge whichever way I tried to grab her.

"You little sneak thief! This isn't homework! I don't want to lose that poster! This is important!"

My mother, whose name is Yohko, appeared stage center at the bottom of the stairs, wringing her hands in great despair and crying, "Oh! Are you children fighting again?"

Mom studied drama in college, before she married Pops and gave up her dream of acting. Pops is a mechanic at the Yotodensho Bearing Works in Tokyo where he commutes every morning, and he believes Mom did the right thing, taking up a starring role as a mother raising a family.

"No, Mom," I answered glumly. The brat had gotten away with it, this time. She always seemed to get Mom involved.

"Nuh-hunh, Mommy," added Hainoko, who used the distraction to slip past me and down the stairs. She called back, "I'm going next door to Yoriko's, Mommy!"

"You were lucky, Punk!" I called after her, "But you better give me back my poster or you'll regret it!"

"Biiihh!" replied the brat, on her way out the door.

"Man! I can't have anything!" I grumbled. That poster had been inside a locked cabinet, rolled in a tube and hidden under several layers of clothes in various stages of decomposition. Still she found it, and took it. It irritated me, but there was nothing I could do before school. Tonight I would have to try to make her give it back.

I stopped long enough to give Mom a goodbye peck.

"Oh, Hiroshi," emoted Mom. "Be careful going to school. It looks like it might rain today."

"I won't melt, Mom." I left the door open and cleared the steps in a bound, headed for Daisuke's.

School was the same old thing. Kuno glomped Akane and got booted into a tree. Shampoo glomped Ranma and Akane booted Ranma into a tree. Ukyo brought enough okonomyaki for four people but Ranma got there first. The principal had come back from Hawaii with a new idea: He wanted someone to sing his new school song at the next assembly. When I tried to volunteer, someone locked me out of his office. I get no respect for my voice.

On the way home after school, Daisuke and I held a conference. There were arrangements to be made. With my pal by my side, we mulled over our prospects for the following evening.

"Yuki and Saori?" asked Daisuke.

"They don't like Rock Cliff," I replied. "Or maybe they don't like lead singers who bite the heads off gerbils on stage."

"Some girls have no sense of adventure."

"Yeah."

"That's a thought, though. We could catch someone who fainted and give them mouth to mouth resuscitation."

"That's a pretty lame chance."

"Yeah. There's bound to be a bunch of guys just waiting and hoping."

Several name bands and singers were staging a big charity event the next day, a concert to raise money for endangered sea-monkeys. They had offered local talent a chance to join them on stage. I tried to get Daisuke to go in with me and sing a duet, but he refused absolutely - he says I sound like a dog caught in a cement mixer and he did not want to be near me when I sang. This is my best friend speaking. I don't get no respect.

So we settled for attending the event - hopefully with female companionship. All we needed were girls. We had made a list and were checking it twice, but everything we tried produced the same result.

"Ukyo?"

"Working - or waiting for Ranma to ask her to go."

"Shampoo?"

"Working - or stalking Ranma. A little intense for me, if you know what I mean."

"We've eliminated all the usual girls. Kodachi?"

We looked at each other and shuddered. "Naaaah!"

"There is Nabiki..."

"Too old. Expensive tastes."

We had gone down the list of possible dates, quickly eliminating all the choice beauties until there was nothing left to do but wish for the impossible, or at best the improbable.

"Remember!" hissed Daisuke, "Do exactly as we practiced!"

The improbable just happened to be mooching down the street ahead of us. We hurried to catch up, and placed ourselves on each side of the improbable.

"So, Ranma," I began. "Who are you taking to the benefit?"

"Yeah, are you taking Akane? After all, you are getting married," Daisuke chimed in.

Ranma reacted predictably, "Whaddya mean? We ain't decided that for ourselves, yet!"

"Of course you have! And since you are already doing it, you really ought to admit it and act like a couple! Show the world you love her by taking her to the concert!"

"But we ain't...and besides, we wouldn't..." Ranma sputtered, then shrugged. "Anyway, she promised somebody she would babysat tomorrow night."

"Hmmm...and what are you going to be doing with her while she's babysitting, need we ask?" I smirked, while Daisuke poked Ranma in the ribs.

"Gonna be a baby, aren't you?" Daisuke grinned. "Ummm, dessert!"

"You guys got the wrong idea! I ain't doing anything!"

I looked at Daisuke. Daisuke looked at me.

"We were wanting to talk about that with you," we said at the same time. In stereo. "If you aren't doing anything, we thought you might agree to come with us. We're going to the concert."

"Come with you guys? You paying?"

Daisuke and I shared a significant look. Daisuke waggled his eyebrows.

"Sure!" we chorused.

"We could go out for some okonomyaki, afterward," I added expansively.

"And maybe a drink or two, and a nightclub..." Daisuke suddenly realized that he had said too much.

"Say!" Ranma eyed us warily, "You wouldn't be expecting a date with a certain redhead, would you?"

"Well..." Daisuke hesitated, then nodded. "We'd show her a real swell time!"

"What makes you think I would go for something like that?"

"Look, Ranma," Daisuke began. "You really ought to be more generous with your wealth. Think of your fellow man."

"Yeah!" I chimed in, "If one of us had your...assets...he would certainly share them more generously."

"I ain't that kind of guy!"

"It isn't you we want," I explained. "If that is what bothers you, we don't want your girl-side for her mind. We want her for her body."

"Forget it!" growled Ranma.

We watched the martial artist stomp away.

"Idiot!" I turned on Daisuke, "Why did you have to bring up the nightclub?"

"But I thought that was the idea! Take her to the concert, get her a drink, take her out to eat, get her a drink, take her to a nightclub, get her a drink..."

"Yeah, but did you have to tell HIM?"

"Do you suppose they are the same person? You know, inside?" Daisuke shuddered.

I considered. "Nope." I decided, "Entirely, a very subtle difference. You can see it in their eyes. Of course, HE says he's the same."

Since there appeared to be no hope for the moment, we gave up worrying about a date and sat around the park, fantasizing.

"If you could be anybody, what would you be?" I wondered.

"Astronauts get chicks," Daisuke offered.

"Naw. Too much time in isolation. I want to feel those babe's bodies pressing in on me. I vote for a rock star. Babes. Parties. Money. Babes. All that applause. Money. Babes."

"Athletes get chicks, too. Baseball players. Sumo wrestlers. Have you seen the babes who hang around those guys?"

"I want to be a rock singer. Like Elvis."

"Who?"

"Elvis!" I snorted, "Don't you read your history?"

"But he's dead!"

"So's Caruso, but they'd both be fighting off the babes if they were here, today!"

"I prefer sports." Daisuke did not add that his daydream was indeed as much sheer fantasy as mine, since he was about as inclined athletically as I was vocally.

The final result of our brainstorming was that we decided that we would take tomorrow as it came, and we would have to take our chances. Right then, we would go shopping for manga in Tokyo, then go home and sit around the TV with our families.

"Now, THAT is desperate for something to do," we groaned.

And that is how MY part of the story starts.

BEGINNING TWO: THE TENDO DOJO

It was morning in the Tendo household. Timid rays of sunlight peeked through the evaporating fog, while equally timid koi ventured back into the open part of the pool. Water that had been splashed out of the pool earlier was soaking into the ground, providing moisture for the lawn, and Kasumi had already hung wet towels to dry from the back porch. At a low table, the murmur of breakfast was disturbed by only one absence - an empty place at one corner - and the owner of that space was expected at any minute.

The front door of the Tendo residence slammed shut.

Which was not that unusual, considering the nature of the place. This particular loud noise was followed by a lesser sound, a sort of a sizzling growl...

"r...r...r...r...r...r...r...r...r..r!"

...which traveled in the front door, into the hallway, up the stairs and culminated in another loud bang as another door was slammed almost off its hinges.

The ensuing silence was broken by Kasumi, who appeared at the entrance to the kitchen to ask, hesitantly, "Was that...Akane?"

In answer to her question, the door upstairs was slammed open and banged shut again as Akane came down the stairs and out to the dojo, eyes fixed straight ahead, wearing her yellow gi.

"She looked upset," Nabiki said, nibbling a rice roll.

"I'm gonna check this out," Ranma rose from the table after quickly clearing his bowl. Well, more quickly than normal, which was saying something. Only an alert observer with a stopwatch might have seen the difference, but it was there, and others saw it and made calculating mental notes.

Ranma stopped at the door and looked back at the others. "It's probably nothing," he said. "Probably stubbed her toe or something. She's not usually this late on her morning run."

Two middle-aged men, one bald, one longhaired and mustached, sat calmly, before nudging each another and smiling.

"He is showing concern, Saotome."

"Yes, Tendo. Another step closer..."

"Well, I'm not concerned," said Nabiki. "But I am curious."

--------------

"You lost?" Nabiki blinked. She stood at the doorway to the dojo and wondered if she was hearing right. Not about Akane losing, but whether or not she had overlooked something.

Akane was setting up her bricks again, trying to find a level place which was not cluttered with the mortal remains of previous bricks. Her face was dirty and bruised, with a blue smudge beginning to appear below her right eye.

"I got beat, okay?" she growled, "Now let's just shut up about it!"

"Wow," said Ranma, leaning against the wall.

Akane stopped to glare at him. "What do you mean, 'Wow'?"

"Well, it must have been quite a battle, from your bruises and black eye and all. Not many guys can do that."

"It was a girl! Now leave me alone!"

Nabiki blinked again. "There is a girl in Nerima who can beat you? Who was it? I thought I knew them all."

"I don't know! She wore a mask!"

Seeing Ranma tense, Nabiki pounced. "What's the matter, Ranma? You looked like an avenging angel when you came in - now you are uncertain."

"Well...henh...I figured any guy who would beat up a muscle-bound tomboy might be a challenge. But a girl...why bother?"

"Oh, so you still have that thing about not fighting girls, huh?"

"Yep."

"But a guy is all right, right?"

"Right."

"And especially so, if that guy beat up your fiancee, right?"

"Righ..." He converted his answer into a cough.

"Admit it, Saotome. You want revenge. You want to hurt anyone who hurts Akane."

Ranma straightened and stretched. "Has nothin' to do with it," he said. "I want a challenge, and girls ain't no challenge."

"It's because you are afraid to find out!" Akane called.

"Whatever," Ranma yawned and stretched again, then looked over his shoulder at Ryoga, who had stopped in time to avoid getting a hand in the face. "Hullo, Ryoga. Long time no see."

"Now I wonder. Who was this girl?" Nabiki frowned.

Ranma smirked, "It's still hard to believe there's a girl around who could beat up a gorilla."

Akane said, "I just wish you would go away and leave me alone!"

"Ranma!" Ryoga cried, "If you don't quit tormenting Akane, I will have to punish you!"

"Yeah, sure, pigboy!" Ranma said, moving into a defensive posture, "You and what army? C'mon!"

"You have caused enough suffering! I'm going to get you for..."

-poof-

"Huh? Where'd he go?" Ranma wondered at the bare ground where Ryoga had stood.

"Is that a new move?" Nabiki asked. She stooped to retrieve several pale yellow flower petals from the dojo floor.

BEGINNING THREE: TEMPORARY SERVICES

The next part of our story begins in what you might call the service department of a really big organization, with an attractive lass, slightly over - scratch that - underdressed for the job. She was, if you will pardon the expression, 'manning' the phone - if ever there was a phrase that needed updating... manning? - This was a babe, curvy figure, smoky gray eyes, and platinum hair down to her... (Ahem!) - As I was saying, our story begins with this...person.

"Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored!"

The platinum blonde made a face as she tried to blow a strand of hair out of the way.

"Why did I even ask to be put back on this duty?"

She was not the heroine of the story, although she did grant wishes - which is the 'stock-in-trade' of the fairy godmother. You have to have a fairy godmother for a Cinderella story. It is a rule. An ancient rule. Before anime, even.

In any job involving telecommunications there are inevitable misunderstandings -

-ring-

"Hello, Goddess Hotline. No, this is not a wrong number. Hello? Hello?"

There are practical jokers -

-ring-

"No, we don't have Prince Albert in the can. In fact, he is out of gaol now and playing cricket with Mary, Queen of Scots. Hello? Hello?"

-ring-

"Hello, Goddess Hotline. Sorry, no executions, fomenting of rebellions, or tickets to Star Wars III. Also, no trips to alien planets, and we don't do Windows. And no Instant Lifetime Companion. New rule."

-ring-

"No, we do not deliver takeout. That only worked once, you know! Give these guys an inch and they'll take a kilometer..."

-ring-

"Hello, Goddess Hotline. No, this is not a wrong number. Hello? Hello? Darn, again. Can't help the unbelievers."

And there are the people who simply want to pass the time of day-

"Always glad to hear from an old friend. When can we do something that will satisfy your needs? Yeah, I'm an old tease, you know me. Still haven't made up your mind to see her one last time? Okay. I won't pressure you. See ya."

"Yawn. No challenge. I could do this with one wing tied behind my back. If I bothered with wings, that is." Around her, perfect sunlight dappled a perfect pool, while perfect koi slid beneath the surface.

"Booooorrrrriiiiing," she said. "Everything is so predictable."

-ring-

"Hello, Goddess Relief Line. What is your wish? Uh-huh. Oppressive family situation? Nobody cares, huh? Oh-kay, it's being taken care of. Thank you for your patience."

"There!" she breathed a sigh of relief, "Finally one I can do something about. Hmmm? Someone is in the data garden...? And there goes that phone again!"

-ring-

"No, I've told you before! We don't ruin your competitors for you. That's your job, and I see by your record that you have been doing an excellent job of doing just that. Who gave you our number, anyway?

"No, you do not get your wish.

"No, it is not a matter of being good. There are many good people out there, of whom you are not one, and they don't get a wish because they are not on our list.

"Yes, I know who you are. As a matter of fact, I know what you are, and I know where you are. I've got a good mind to reach through this phone and..."

Thunder rumbled, beyond a clear sky.

"...but I won't. Probation, darn it. I can't leave my desk for anything. However, I can correct this wrong connection..."

-Bzzzapapppp!-

"THAT felt good. Hello? Hello? (Smirk) Must have hung up."

"Yawn. So predictable. Hmmm. Something about that last call bothers me. No-one gets through unless they have a need...or they have help. I'd better check my tattle-tales."

A tone sounded and Urd turned to scan the printout.

"Uh-huh!" she muttered, "I thought she would be trying something about now..." Positioning the diamond-studded headset pertly over her platinum locks, she punched a few buttons and, after a few distant buzzes, was rewarded with a connect signal.

"What do you want?" the voice on the other end demanded.

"Just a moment of your time, Mara," Urd smiled. It was not a malicious smile - more of a NIGYYSOB type of a smile.

(Now I've Got You, You Sweet Old Biddy. Why? What were you expecting?)

"Oh, I have time, dahling. More than you do, I will wager," Mara's reply was silky, seductive, and unsettling. Not at all what Urd was expecting.

"So I see," Urd frowned. "Not thinking of causing problems for my sister, are you?"

"Maybe," the person on the other end of the line paused, as if to savor the moment. "What's it to you?"

Urd leaned back and curled the cord around her shapely fingers. She did not really need a cord. Cords were decorations, physical manifestations to indicate the flow of data from headset to junction. Not essential at all. They were, however, fun to twiddle with while you were ragging your competition.

"I'm watching you," she said. "Tried to distract me with a bogus call while you were hacking, didn't you? Naughty, naughty!"

"I got your attention, didn't I?" Mara purred. "I just wanted to tell you something, professional courtesy, just to give you a heads up. There's something going down in your own backyard, and you can't do a thing about it!"

"What have you done now?" Urd downgraded the frown to a scowl. Not much of a change, but it would have been enough to give any overly friendly males in the area second thoughts about hanging around the office. Or the universe, even.

"Oh, I did not have to do anything. Too bad you can't watch your own domain, especially when you're tied up to that prissy 'relief office'."

"Are you planning on messing with my sister and her relationship? 'Cause if you are, I can give you such a hurt..."

"That's for me to know, and for you to worry about, starting right now. Norn of Love, are you? Let's see you save this one! I happen to know someone put a worm into Yygdrasil, and you'll never find it in time!"

"Why, you..." Urd growled, banging the phone down. The receiver obediently shattered into fragments, then reassembled itself. "She's up to something, and I'm stuck on phone duty! I need to get back to my own desk! Where's my relief when I need it?"

A glance about showed no one in range. Other points on the Goddess Relief Line were busy, according to their readouts. Her own wish-meter on the wall clicked over and the phone rang again. Urd hastily punched up the line, completed the call and stewed, fidgeting as she puzzled how to escape her probation long enough to check on the demoness.

Finally, she snapped her fingers and exclaimed, "Well, am I a goddess or not? All I need to do is keep the wish-meter running. I'll call our temp service!" As she tapped the keys, she began to hum a lullaby.

--------

Basho, a monk of the Temple of the Good Deed, faced a beautiful young woman who seemed not quite upset with him. He would have been less worried if she had frowned, or even spoken angrily. Instead, she smiled pleasantly, in a manner which suggested that she expected something from him.

"But I don't know how I got here!" he said, "I was meditating, concentrating on the main precept of our sect, which is to help people, when..."

"Isn't that a contradiction in terms?" The young woman placed a finger to her chin in a 'thinking' pose, which made her all the more kawaii.

"Helping people?" Basho stopped in confusion.

"No - meditating and concentrating. Entirely opposite methods."

"Umm...I suppose so. But according to my sensei, it is necessary, in order to help people! There is a final truth, which I must find, in order to attain the highest level of understanding! I want so much to fulfill the precepts of my school...uh...where was I?"

"In our data garden..." The goddess leaned toward him to point out the neat rows of information, a move which exposed an impressive amount of her cleavage. Basho drew back in alarm, his tranquility trembling.

I shall take a couple of deep breasts, he thought. I must retain a calm state of mind. Did I just think what I think I thought?

"...Somewhere between the RAMdishes and the spaghetti code," the young woman continued. "Trespassing. I'll have to ask you to leave."

"Gladly!" the monk said, "I do not wish to intrude."

"Oh, no problem, really. No damage done. Next time you can use the front door. But, the reason I called you is, maybe you can do something for me, and I can do something for you. Simply agree to do some 'good deeds' for me, for oh, say two weeks. To make it worth your while, I will grant you one wish."

"I can not afford to take time from my studies! I am a struggling student! My heart must remain pure, and my mind crystal clear, for I am almost through with my training!" cried Basho, "I have memorized the entirety of the concepts of my branch, the five sacred koans, the seventeen holy precepts, and the twenty-three admonitions, and the seventy-one prohibitions. I was working on the one hundred and one possible modulations, but I keep being interrupted!"

"By any chance did you read the clause in the bottom of your Temple of the Good Deed' charter which specifies that your temple will provide temporary services to the Goddess Relief Office on an 'as needed' basis?"

"Ulp. No. That would be one of the one hundred and one modulations that I was about to memorize, wouldn't it?"

"Precisely. Now, can you help?"

"THAT is what Sensei meant! I suppose it would be a stain upon the honor of my temple should I refuse?"

"Oh, no more than your average loss of face. Or neck."

Basho said, tightly, "Then I must be obedient to the charter. Did you mention a wish?"

"Umh, yes. For your services, you are allowed one wish, to be used as you see fit," she smiled blindingly.

Basho was very aware of the aroma of wildflowers, the hissing roar of a wild mountain stream which he decided was the sound of his own blood, and the nearness of a shapely expanse of barely covered flesh. With a will of iron, he controlled his voice to squeak, "I agree! I want my wish right now!"

"And just what is your wish?"

Basho ignored the sultry eyes to babble swiftly, "This is my wish, that-someone-else-will-take-my-place! I-happen-to-have- one-in-mind!"

-poof-

The monk was gone. In his place stood a youth, wearing a yellow bandana for a headband, tied leggings and a wrathful expression. The youth was continuing a conversation he had started earlier -

"...this! I'm going to beat you until you can't stand up! I'll wrap you in wire and bounce you from here to..."

The muscular lad cut his outburst short. He froze, one finger pointing at Urd's most prominent features. His eyes widened as he attempted to deduce his location without staring, from the alabaster spires mounting the bluest skies, to the birds of paradise fluttering among cinnamon trees.

"Ooooh, bondage!" Urd purred, looking him over. "You earth guys are always coming up with the quaintest notions! Nice package, too. Definitely a step up from the first temp."

"Gleep?" Ryoga spoke.

"Hmmm. Language challenged. Well, you'll have to do. The wishmeter must roll. Gotta give you the oath. Will you carry out your duties as given by your client - that's me - to the best of your abilities?"

"Gleep?"

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. Now, what you are supposed to do is take this readout," Urd placed a bracelet on the wrist he had presented. To close the clasp, she had to lean forward, her front making contact with his outstretched digit, ignoring the tiny trickle of red from Ryoga's nose.

"What you are supposed to do is to wander around, spreading wishes to everyone who qualifies. Your readout will manipulate your aura so you are attracted to the people who need our services the most. Then, all you have to do is listen to what they wish for," she patted his hand and frowned. It was like patting a marble statue. "The programming will do the rest. Oh, yes. If you have any questions later, just ask the bracelet. Is there anything you wanted to ask me right now?"

"Gleep?"

-ring-

"I'll take that as a 'no'. There's another client right now. You gotta go. Good hunting! Oh, scratch that. Good wishing!"

-poof-

Ryoga found himself on pavement, with hundreds of cycles, trucks, cabs, and persons on roller-skates bearing down on him. In downtown Tokyo.

"Hey, Get out of my way, you backwoods moron!" one of the drivers yelled, "I wish you'd go home!"

The street shook.

-poof-

The Hibiki house stood forlorn, tidy and neat, but with spider webs on the windows and grass growing through the cracks in the walkway. No one was home. Ryoga sighed and turned away.

"Maybe I can find Akane. She'll help me make some sense of this," he said, as he set out. Even if she could not clear up the mystery, he would feel better sitting in her lap. As he hiked, he felt himself drawn off the street into a small shop, where a man and woman were arguing. The bracelet began to tingle and he read the inscription on the silver plate.

-client proximity.

As Ryoga approached, the shouts and loud words of the couple intensified. The man told the woman, "I wish you'd forget about me and my faults for awhile, and let me go away and rest!"

The ground shuddered, and

-poof-

The man vanished, while the woman continued sweeping the floor.

"Excuse me," Ryoga quavered, not sure what he had seen. "What happened to that man who was standing there?"

"What man?" the woman asked, "No one works here but me. May I help you?"

"Uh...I'm not sure. Is there anything you would like to wish for?"

"How very kind of you. No, thank you, not right now. Although a cool glass of orange juice would taste good."

There was a small but noticeable vibration.

"Oh, thank you," she said, paying no attention to where the glass of orange liquid had come from. She drank it down and returned to sweeping.

It works, Ryoga said to himself as he left the shop.

A mother dragging a small, wailing boy brushed past as Ryoga stood on the corner. "I want more ice cream!" the small boy cried, "I wish I could have all the ice cream I could eat!"

Ryoga noticed a shudder as the pavement trembled.

Whump

The boy was almost buried under a mound of strawberry, pistachio, vanilla, Neapolitan, and cherry-maple-chocolate-swirl. His mother stood nervously scanning the sky while her son ate his way out of the pile.

"It works," Ryoga said aloud. "It works! I wish I could be by Akane's side!"

Nothing happened, except for a sound...

-ping-  
-error. see appropriate help file for information.

Ryoga clutched at the bracelet. "What's wrong? Can't you grant my wishes?"

-my sources say 'no,'- read the inscription.

"What? You mean I have to grant everyone else's wish, but I can't give myself one? One wish! That's all I want!"

-my sources say 'no'.

Gloom settled in on Ryoga's face, but it did not last long. "Can I grant a wish for Akane?" he wondered.

-agent may grant one wish for any qualified recipient.  
-ping-  
-fatal error!-  
-caution: agent has not accepted nondisclosure agreement.  
-agent's capacity has been temporarily rescinded.  
-agent must accept agreement before resuming duties.

"Accept what? And I am not an agent!"

-ping-  
-title of 'agent' removed.  
-title of classification reverts to 'fairy god-mother'.

"I am NOT a fairy god-mother!"

-ping-  
-classification fitted to subject.  
-title of classification is 'wishpig'.

"Agent!" Ryoga waved his arms frantically, "Agent is fine! I wanna be called an agent!"

-agent has not fully complied with requirements.  
-acceptance of nondisclosure agreement is mandatory before agent's capacity may be reinstated.

"That means I cannot give Akane her wish!" Ryoga gasped. "I agree! I agree!"

-ping-  
-recorded. agent has all capacities and benefits.

"Thank Kami!" breathed Ryoga. Encouraged by the talkative bracelet, he added, "Can I give Akane more than one wish?"

-Information: agent may optionally elect to utilize the capacity to grant multiple wishes to a single person. This capacity may be switched off as desired.  
-Cost: 1 wish

"Then I want it! Give me multiple-wish-granting!"

-does agent wish to activate multiple wish feature?

"Yes! Yes! Akane, here I come! You can have everything you want!"

-agent has expended 1 (one) wish.

"Hey, wait a minute! I thought you said I didn't get a wish!"

-rule: agent is entitled to one wish, under stated conditions specified hereunto by said agent, subsequent to acceptance of non-disclosure agreement.

"Allright! I wish my curse lifted! No more cowering from the cooking pot! No more shame!"

Nothing happened.

"What's the matter?" Ryoga asked, his enthusiasm flickering into irritation, "You said I had a wish coming!"

-agent has previously expended entitlement.

"Gulp. I did?"

-agent expended wish when requesting multiple wish-granting capability.  
-agent had previously stipulated that agent was to receive one wish, and one wish only.  
-multiple wish-granting is now available for qualified recipients.

"Oh, no! I'm no better off than I was before!" Ryoga beat his head against a rock wall, with the result that the wall suffered immensely. Eventually he calmed and decided, "Wait! I can still give Akane her wishes! I can give her all the wishes she wants! Just wait, Akane! I am coming! Wait until you hear! The goddess has given me the power to grant wishes!"

He had not taken a dozen steps before he felt a chill vapor drift across his face. A face formed of white mist smiled in a wanton leer as it sought his lips, and a tentacle of vapor coiled about his body.

"Yaaaaaaahhh!" Ryoga cried. He was capable of great speed when he tried, and he tried. Miles away from the clinging mist, he pressed his back against a wall and watched the shadows for signs of movement.

As he caught his breath, he panted, "What was that!"

-ping-  
-describe 'that'

"That was a ghost trying to feel me up!"

-phenomenon was spectral projection from demoness, specifically, Mara. Demoness unaware of present location and searching.  
-Chance of discovery00.008.

"Why was she after me?"

-Warning! Warning! -  
-Disclosure of forbidden subjects carries a substantial penalty!

"I didn't 'disclose' anything! What are you talking about?"

-demoness attracted by agent's vocalization of intended utilization of 'wish granting capability'.

"You mean I can't tell Akane about it?" Ryoga recalled the cold vapors winding around him and shivered, "Brrr! Then I won't talk about it! I don't have to ask Akane what she wants! I won't say a word, just be there when she asks for something! I can give her anything in the world! She'll have to accept me, then!"

-ping-  
-My sources say 'no'.

Ryoga ignored the inscription and set out at a run. In the wrong direction.

End: Chapter 1


	2. If Wishes Were Pigs

Disclaimer: Hmmm. Rumiko Takahashi and Viz and a whole bunch more have dibs on Ranma et al, Fujishima Kousuke and Animeigo takes credit for associating Urd of Norse mythology with kawaii features and a computer engineering degree, Cinderella is an old fairy tale, which leaves me with Hainoko and Kidori, who are derivative and belong to everyone. Basho belongs to himself. Not to worry, since I don't figure on making any money off this, anyway. No gerbils were harmed in the writing of this fanfic.  
Caution: Loose Canon. 

ASHES - A Cinderella Story Chapter Two  
If Wishes were Pigs

Take precious thread and weave it true  
Crimson sheer and silken blue  
Let us swing and let us sway  
And Chapter Two is on its way.

RYOGA:

Wording of the wish is extremely important. However, the subject may sometimes have difficulty expressing a specific heart's desire, either because the exact specifications are not known, the subject may have subconscious barriers to admitting a desire for the end object, or the environment in which the subject exists forces them to alter their request in an unforeseen manner. It is important that you look in the heart of the person making the request as well as looking to the express wording. (from: A Few of the Basic Rules for the Temporary Fairy Godmother)

He was trying to get to heaven, trying to straighten out the mess. While this was his intent, of course, being Ryoga, he wound up far away from where he had intended to go. He was in Japan, which - although it has been reputedly described as next door to heaven, was not the destination he was seeking. Trying for the next best choice, he grabbed the nearest passerby and demanded, "Where is the Tendo dojo?"

"Hey, no need to get anxious, Ryoga," said Hiroshi. "We're going by there. It's only a few blocks straight ahead."

"Do you want a lead rope?" grinned Daisuke.

"No!"

"Just offering," said Daisuke, turning back to Hiroshi. "I still say athletes get more babes."

"That's just publicity, paid for by the sponsors. For me, a rock star is the way to go. I'd like to have a better voice and more talent than the greatest rock star alive. Part of the time, that is. I'd want to be able to go home and chill out with the rest of you ordinary people the rest of the time."

"Hah!" snorted Daisuke. "You wish!"

"Yeah," Hiroshi said dreamily, "I wish."

-tunk-

"What was that?" Daisuke glanced around at the noise.

Ryoga had jumped as if startled. "Heh. Bracelet. Scraped it against the signpost," he explained, sneaking a peek at the readout.

-bad match-  
-insufficient data-  
-searching-

Ryoga cast his eyes about uneasily, walking with his feet planted firmly on the pavement. After a block of these cautious steps, he asked Hiroshi, "So, who is the world's greatest rock star?"

"Heck, I dunno," Hiroshi paused to think. "There are so many."

"There's Rock Cliff," Daisuke supplied.

"Don't make me puke! The only reason we're going to this concert is for the chick fallout! When he starts putting gerbils in his mouth they're gonna freak!"

Daisuke looked dubious, "I thought we decided that was lame!"

"Better lame than alone, I say."

Ranma greeted them as they entered the dojo yard, "Yo, Ryoga! Where'd you go this morning? That was a smooth exit! Hi, guys! What brings you around here?"

Ryoga turned his head aside and mumbled something unintelligible.

"We're going to the benefit at the school and we wanted to see if you had changed your mind about going," Hiroshi paused as he absently looked at Ranma's flat, masculine chest. When he heard his friend's knuckles crackle ominously, he quickly added, "as yourself. ... Really! We have the tickets."

Daisuke blurted, "I didn't mean to make you angry! Honest!"

"Sorry, guys," Ranma shook his head. "I heard about Rock Cliff. Them things just ain't my cup of tea. Too loud."

"I thought martial artists were supposed to be able to endure any amount of pain."

"Nope, you're thinking about Pop. Why don't you get Ryoga to go with you?"

"Hey, you want to go, Ryoga-kun? We have an extra ticket," Daisuke asked, hopefully, "Hate to see it go to waste."

"Sorry," mumbled Ryoga. "I have to get a drink of water." He preceded them into the house.

"Think about it!" Hiroshi called after him, "It's not often you get to see that kind of talent!"

"Thank the gods," muttered Ranma. "You guys want a drink? I think Kasumi has tea ready. 'Scuse me, I been sweatin'. I gotta take a bath." He walked off grumbling about 'becoming domesticated.'

THE TENDO HOUSE:

Soun yawned and stretched, keeping an eye on the shoji board and a certain panda, which also yawned and stretched while keeping an eye on him.

Nabiki sat down quickly as the boys walked in, moving her backpack to one side. Something clanked underneath and she glanced about to see if the noise had been heard.

"Daddy, have you seen the comics section of the paper?" she said, "Oh, hi, Ryoga-kun."

"Ummmh," Ryoga scratched the back of his head. "I wanted to tell Akane something. Do you know where she is?"

"She's in the kitchen, getting psyched up to cook supper," Nabiki spoke with hooded eyes. "Be afraid. Be very afraid."

They heard Ranma's female voice crying from the bathroom, "What is it with this hot water? It's broke again!"

"That's too bad, Ranma!" Nabiki called, "The repairman should be here tomorrow." Unless I can divert him, somehow.

"Why does this always have to happen? I wish this darn thing would stay fixed for awhile!"

Why does it happen? Oh, I don't know. Let me count the ways - Camera full of film, check. Verbal commission for pictures, check. Heating element removed, check. "Don't have any idea, Ranma! You'll just have to make do for tonight!" She listened to the griping, grinned, and turned to Ryoga. "How about you? I know where to get a GPS receiver, cheap."

"Thanks. I had one," Ryoga got his bearings and launched himself toward the kitchen. "Funny," he paused to say, "I didn't know computers had suicide hot lines..."

Suddenly Nabiki grabbed the table to steady herself and asked, "Was that an earthquake I just felt?"

"May have been," Soun said, glancing around unconcernedly while keeping one eye on the board.

"Hey!" came Ranma's male voice again, "It's working now!"

Nabiki snapped to full alert. "It's what?" She picked up the backpack. The wrench and heater element were intact. "Something is strange, here!" she muttered.

In the kitchen, Ryoga had suddenly become tongue-tied. "Uh...Akane..."

"Yes, Ryoga?"

"Akane...I want you to know that if there is ever anything you want...just wish for it, I will get it for you. Anything! Isn't there something you wish for, more than anything in the world?"

"Oh, Ryoga...yes," Akane's eyes misted. She brushed a hand over the picture of the Tendo family at an earlier, happier time. Her father had taken it out earlier and had been mooning over it.

"Errr..." Ryoga halted. Surely she was not going to wish for THAT. "Maybe I should have said..." He did not want to know if it was possible to bring back Akane's mother, especially if she appeared as a ghost. Not to mention the fact that such a powerful wish would give a certain demoness his location. He shuddered. He did not want to face the wraith again.

"But that is silly. I would not bring her back, even if I could, and take her from her peace," Akane sighed. She did not notice the relief on Ryoga's face.

"I swear, Akane!" cried Ryoga, "If there is anything you want, all you have to do is wish!"

"Ryoga," Akane reached up to touch his cheek. "You are such a thoughtful and considerate friend. Thank you for caring."

Ryoga staggered off, torn between delirious joy at her touch and unfathomable depression because she still did not understand how deeply he loved her.

A splash, and P-Chan was in her lap. As P-Chan, Ryoga could be close to Akane and grant her every wish. Thus, he was there when Ranma provoked her.

"I'm not saying that the last miso soup you made was quite as bad as turpentine..." Ranma managed to insert his foot in his mouth and talk at the same time.

"Ranma! You never say anything good about my cooking!"

P-Chan sprang to alertness. Now, if she became angry enough, she would wish Ranma away, far away!

"Yeah, that soup was good, like rancid yak butter tastes good. At least someone can eat yak butter!"

Akane shoved to her feet, dumping P-Chan onto the floor. "You never give me a chance! I wish..."

YES! The little black pig quivered with excitement. Yes! This was it!

"I wish...I wish..." Akane nearly fell over the bouncing, frantic pig. "P-Chan, be careful! Now, what was I saying?"

The little black pig backed away, trying to quiver unnoticed as he strained to project his thoughts, Say it! Say it!

"I wish for once I could cook a really good meal! That would show you! That would show all of you!"

No one noticed the shuddering vibration except the little pig, who was moping toward the bathroom with tears in his eyes.

"In fact, that is what I am going to do right now! You just wait!" Akane slammed off into the kitchen to make good on her word. She did.

Akane cooked a great meal. It was beautiful. It was fabulous. And...no one ate it. No one of the immediate household, that is. Daisuke nibbled some cabbage turnovers and persimmon dumplings, but the meal looked and smelled so delicious that he could not resist. He thought that the few bites he could eat, before the food was wrenched from his grasp, tasted great.

So did the traveling troupe of mimes who found a feast dumped hastily out on the sidewalk out of Akane's sight. The mimes ate and ate and left rubbing their tummies and making signs of contentment to indicate their pleasure, but being mimes they could not say out loud how good the food was.

Ryoga appeared shortly after, said, "Hellogoodbye," and left towing Hiroshi and Daisuke. Daisuke was glad enough to leave, as he could not figure out why everyone was regarding him with such pity.

"Someone stacked our dinner dishes out on the sidewalk," said Kasumi. "Now, why would anyone do that?"

Akane glared at everyone and received guilty looks in return.

Kasumi held one of the dishes up to the light. "It has been licked clean," she noted, "But there was no one there."

"Probably on their way to the emergency room," Ranma guessed.

Soun began to tune up the sprinklers. "Oh, the humanity!" he cried.

"Will you guys stop that?" Akane cried, "At least Daisuke liked it!"

"Yeah," sighed Ranma as he prepared to run, but not fast enough. "I'm gonna miss him. Ow!"

HIROSHI:

Your response, upon hearing a request, should be to reaffirm that the request is valid. This may take the form of a question, such as, "Is that your desire?" or perhaps, "Do you really want to wish for that?" or "Is that your final answer?" The first few times you submit a request you may inadvertently overlook this, since timing is critical. The system has checks and balances to prevent blatantly wrong wishes from becoming fulfilled, but it is possible for a properly validated wish to accomplish something other than the desired goal. In fact, this is the very nature of wish-giving, since most people ask for something they don't really want since they do not know, or will not admit to themselves, what is needed. This is the Art of wish-giving, to provide what is truly desired, even though it may not be what they thought they wanted. (from: A Few of the Basic Rules for the Temporary Fairy Godmother)

The evening was shot. We had gone to the concert, only to find that our tickets were no good. Somehow, we had bought tickets for the next day's performance, on the other side of Japan.

So, we decided to sneak in. After all, we had paid for tickets, which we weren't going to travel all the way across Japan to use. We deserved to get in. That made sense. We tried to keep together. In the long run, with Ryoga, this did not make sense.

Through caverns dank and cold, by waterfalls that roared in the night, down hallways echoing with emptiness, beneath dusty lantern-lit ceilings too creepy to belong in any school, not even Furinkan, we crept.

"Y'know," I said as I polished off my ice cream cone, "I have a dream. I have always wanted to be a singer. Making money, having fans. I wish I was a rock singer."

I noticed Ryoga grimacing, and he must have hit his bracelet again because I heard it go -tunk-.

"What's wrong with wishing?" I asked, "It helps to pass the time."

Ryoga appeared to be watching something outside my range of vision. "Things have a way of coming true around me," he whispered.

I stuck out my chin. "I wish..."

Ryoga covered his ears. "I don't want to hear it!"

"...I wish...I want to be a rock singer! There! How's that for a dumb wish? I haven't got the looks, and I haven't got the voice. Plus, my parents would never let me out of the house."

The light from a torch guttering on the cavern wall reflected eerily from Ryoga's eyes. "It didn't happen before. Maybe it won't happen now," he said, and he seemed to cheer up. "Hey! It doesn't happen every time!"

Finally, we had a break. We emerged from a janitor's closet into a room that I recognized.

"This is another fine mess you've gotten us into!" I cried, "We are in the basement of the school auditorium, but the concert is over!"

"Don't look at me! Ryoga had the map!" Dai protested.

"I don't understand!" Ryoga said, puzzled, "I may get lost, but I always get where I'm going...eventually...sometimes."

"Wait!" Daisuke said, looking up at the stage floor above us, "Do you suppose they are still here? I hear music! I think there is something still going on up there!"

There was, indeed, noise. I tried to listen, but all I got was ear-strain and a sore nose from walking into a stage-prop door. Daisuke has always had a better ear than I did. What can I say? Music is music. Besides, I was just getting over a cold.

He listened some more, then said, "They are just getting started!" He leaned against another prop and sighed, "Man, I wish I could get up there and watch!"

Getting out of the basement proved tricky. We tried first one door, then another. There were a lot of fake walls, stage props stored down here between performances of the drama society, so we spread out to look for a real door.

"Here's one!" Daisuke's voice floated out from a corner, then the door slammed and he thumped against it - from the other side. His muffled voice came through, "It locked on me after I went through it! You'll have to open it from the inside!"

We found the door and tried it, but the lock was jammed. Ryoga shrugged, raised a finger, and touched the door.

"Bakusai tenketsu," he said in a conversational voice. I jumped back, expecting the wall to explode when he released his chi.

Nothing happened.

Ryoga stared at the undamaged door and at his finger. Onto his face crept an expression of disbelief, followed by determination.

"BAKUSAI TENKETSU!" he roared, poking at the door.

A hole appeared, about the size of his finger, but otherwise, nothing happened. No, wait. Something did happen. Tiny bits of sparkling confetti floated down from the ceiling, leaving a dusting of glitter on the stage furniture.

Ryoga's eyes were wide. "Fairy dust!" he mutteredd, "And I have lost my earthbreaker!"

"Glitter," I said, correcting him. "Simple glitter, must have been left here by the drama society. Try harder."

Raising his voice, he said, "Maybe I had better not. I have been through hell...er...some strange places recently, and I think I'd better be careful!"

"Look!" I reasoned, "You were going to bust it down, anyway! I'll pay the school back for the door! We're going to miss the concert!"

He grasped the handle and pulled. The door opened easily with a screech of wrenched metal, an ear-rending howl that went on and on. I finally realized that I was hearing the scream of a hard-rock guitar being tortured into scrap metal, and it was coming from the stage above. I grinned. The show was about to start, and we had come out of the basement behind the stage!

We could not find Daisuke. He must have given up on us and had followed his ears to the shouts and cheers from the crowd seated in the auditorium. As I followed, leading Ryoga along, I passed another door that looked very promising. It was the entrance backstage.

"We could go in there!" I suggested, above the noise.

"I still FEEL strong..."

"No one would see us, and we could watch the whole performance!"

"...I can get as depressed as ever, though that works best with the Shishihoukoudan..."

"And I've always wanted to get the feel of a rock concert, up close and personal, even if I'm never going to be a rock singer!"

"...so why doesn't anything go bang? All I get is this sparkly dust..."

Ryoga was too busy examining his finger and poking at solid objects to object, so I made the decision for us. Carpe diem. Grab the fish, I always say.

The show began, and we watched the opening act as a scrawny kid stomped out on stage and began to warble.

"I can understand you wanting to sound better than that!" Ryoga shuddered.

"He's just getting the audience warmed up," I shrugged. "Rock Cliff is due up next! He's gross, but he can sing great!"

"And you want to be better," Ryoga sighed. He shook his bracelet again.

"I wish it with all my heart," I sighed. "Just for a little while. Like I said, I wouldn't want to give up my regular life for it, mind you."

As the scrawny kid left the stage, the announcer led a spattering of applause and began a long rambling introduction for the next act. Rock Cliff could not make it because of a bus breakdown. In his place...

...Into his place on stage walked the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, dressed in yellow and moving like a vision of heaven. As the music rose, she performed a dance routine. She sang the first line, and I shouted with excitement.

"Isn't she fabulous? Her name is Primrose. She is the greatest!"

-ping-

Ryoga fidgeted as if he were itching. "She's the greatest?" he repeated, as if in disbelief.

"She's the best, man!" Didn't he hear me?

"But that's a..."

"Yeah. Ain't she something?"

"The greatest looks?"

"She's a knockout!"

"The greatest voice?"

"Listen! Doesn't it send shivers down your spine?"

"You don't know how much," Ryoga shuddered. "And now it's too late."

"Eh? What did you say?"

There was a steadily growing rumble which drowned out all thought.

"I said..." Ryoga had to yell to make himself heard above the din, "I said..."

-poof-

I reached for him. Then I looked at the hand grasping Ryoga's shirt, a slender female hand which was attached to a slender female arm which was covered with a brilliant blue sleeve which was attached to a jacket which was attached to...me. I released him and in a calm, dignified voice, expressed my opinion about the situation.

"Acckkkk!" I said.

"Hiroshi?" Ryoga asked. He was pointing at me, his forefinger wavering in a sketchy circle.

"Ack!" I said, brightly, feeling my eyes expanding like dinner plates, in alarm.

"Hiroshi? You're..."

"Ack!" I said again, feeling my chin bounce off the floor. Three or four times.

"Oops...I was afraid something like this might happen..."

"Ack!" I repeated, for good measure. My breasts were jaunting perkily. What distressed me was that I could see my breasts. I was no body builder. These were not pecs, built up from months of hard labor on the rowing machine. These were boobs. Creamy mounds of delicate flesh. What was worse was that they were clearly visible for the world to see, as well, through the almost sheer blue material of the blouse, hindered only by strategically placed blue ribbons and the jacket which did not quite meet in front.

"Sorry..."

"Ack!" Sorry? He was sorry? If he was sorry, what was I? I was...I was... There was something awfully familiar about this, but for once I was seeing it from the wrong perspective. Those perky boobs, that slim waist swelling into thrilling hips, that impossible, compelling, sultry voice - voice?

"I'm a girl?"

He nodded miserably.

"How?"

Ryoga actually seemed in pain. "This sort of thing has been happening to me a lot, lately," he said in an embarrassed voice.

"You? Whaddya mean, you? I'm the one it happened to!"

He scratched the back of his head and grinned sourly, "Wishes have been coming true around me, but I can't talk about it. All I can say is that I think it's something in my aura that triggers it. Yeah. That seems safe enough."

"I didn't wish to be a girl!"

"You said you wanted to have more talent and look better than the greatest rock star."

"But I meant a guy rock star!"

"And then you said Primrose was the greatest."

Arrgghh! "But I didn't mean - "

"Hey, you two!" a uniformed security guard shouted, "Get outta here! This is a restricted area!" Several more guards joined him. They were big, tough, and they carried nightsticks. It was then that I did several things wrong.

I panicked, which was mistake #1.

I ran, which was mistake #2.

I followed Ryoga.

Mistake #3.

Strike three. I was out. On the stage. In front of millions and millions of staring eyes. Well, hundreds of staring eyes - that was bad enough. As a girl. Wearing - or almost not wearing - a brilliant sparkling blue mini-dress with blue jacket and tails, with blue ribbons in strategic locations. Ryoga was nowhere in sight.

I mean, what's a guy to do, given the circumstances? Behind me, the guards were preparing to rush the stage and grab me. They only held off because they were checking to see if I was part of the show.

So, I froze. For ages of seconds, we stared at each other, the audience and I, and they began to make an ugly sound.

-Drool-

I mean, really ugly.

Then they began to chant, softly at first, until everyone was calling, insisting, "Sing something! Sing something!"

Me? Sing? I could remove paint with my voice. Pops said he would never need to buy sandpaper when he had me around. Stray cats followed me around for inspiration. They wanted me to sing?

"Sing something! SING something!"

There once was a lady from Osaka...no, forget that...

They're gonna kill me...

So, I tried to sing. When I cleared my throat, a silence fell, as deafening in its own way as the previous thundering demands.

I remembered hearing Mom humming a lullaby that morning. It was nothing, just a pleasant melody she had sung to Hainoko when she was a baby. So it wasn't a pop tune. It was the only thing I could think of at the time.

"Hush, little baby, to my lullaby..."

The audience loved it. They ate it up. The band took up the melody and improvised, jazzed it up and blasted out a sax solo when I stopped to catch my breath. There was a band? I didn't know there was a band. Oh, yeah. The Primrose Path. Off-stage, a girl in pale yellow stood watching me. She seemed as awe-struck as the audience.

It was a simple lullaby, for Kami's sake. You would have thought it was the most inspirational, pulse-pounding, thrilling aria ever recorded.

Maybe it was the way my new voice said, "Baby."

The sound of girls cheering and muttering enviously was only drowned out by the sound of guys cheering and slobbering. Overcome with passion, fans began to swarm the stage.

If they were overcome with passion, I was overcome with panic. Girls with souvenir scissors. Guys with roses and amorous gleams in their eyes, and hands that reached for me. Again, I ran.

This time the guards were actually helping me, politely hustling me out a side door so I could get away. I fled into the basement where I hid for an hour, until I thought it was safe. It was not. The mob spotted me again outside and was about to catch me when I rounded a corner. They swirled about me, there was momentary confusion and...

-poof-

I was myself, again, plain old Hiroshi. I did not ask questions. I was me! The mob rushed on past. No one paid any attention to me, so intent were they on their pursuit.

I walked away, back stiff, my eyes held rigidly ahead, and eventually managed to find Ryoga. He was reading the inscription on his bracelet by the light of a streetlamp. A TV news crew bustled past us, the anchorwoman peering into the shadows and searching the shrubbery.

The news woman approached us, still searching. "Have you seen that girl?" she asked.

"What girl?" I asked innocently.

"That singer in blue! She was magnificent! She was wonderful! And no one knows who she is or where she went!"

"She disappeared like Cinderella," added the cameraman.

I glanced at Ryoga. He looked at me. "Haven't seen her!" we chorused.

"I have to interview her!" the news woman said, "She is the find of the century! I'll pay you if you can get her name!"

This caught my attention. "Pay? How much?" Before she could name a figure, Ryoga had grabbed me and dragged me away with him. We lost track of each other almost immediately.

I got home after midnight, but Pops was already asleep.

End: Chapter Two


	3. Friends

Disclaimer: Hmmm. Rumiko Takahashi and Viz and a whole bunch more have dibs on Ranma et al, Fujishima Kousuke and Animeigo takes credit for associating Urd of Norse mythology with kawaii features and a computer engineering degree, Cinderella is an old fairy tale, which leaves me with Hainoko and Kidori, who are derivative and belong to everyone. Basho belongs to himself. Not to worry, since I don't figure on making any money off this, anyway. No gerbils were harmed in the writing of this fanfic, except the one who refused to cross at the crosswalk, and that was his own fault.

ASHES - A Cinderella Story  
Chapter Three - Friends

Some are young and some are old  
Silver threads among the gold  
Let us dip and let us groove  
And Chapter Three is on the move.

HIROSHI:

"Ah Wop Bop alubop Ah Lop Bam Boom!"

I loved the shower. The furo was great for soaking, but the shower had acoustics. I could hold the scrub brush like a microphone and really put my soul into the song.

Last night was a fading nightmare. I had inventoried my assets and determined that I was still a walking, talking male. And singing, too, although for some reason I never got to finish. There were always interruptions. For instance:

"Hiroshi!"

I wiped the water out of my eyes and stuck my head outside the curtain. "Yes, Mom?"

"Hiroshi, please hold it down. The neighbors are complaining."

"Aww, Mom! I can't sound THAT bad! And besides, the neighbors left on vacation for a week."

"It is the neighbors beyond them. And the ones from across the street. Hiroshi-chan? Please?"

"Awww...right." Mom meant well. She simply did not appreciate good music. After all, that was an American love song - a classic.

She gave me a weak hug when I came down for breakfast, and said, "You have so many other qualities, Hiro-chan. You should work on them." I recognized the line from one of the 'afternoon drama clubs' she attended without Pops' knowledge.

"Okay, Mom," I sighed, then Hainoko shoved in front of me at the table. "Hey!" I yelped, "That's my place!"

Hainoko smirked at me, "You only want this seat because it is closer to the rice bowl. You snooze, you lose."

"Hainoko - move," said Pops, not even looking up from the morning's sports news. Hainoko made a 'he always takes your side,' glare and grudgingly scooted over.

"Also, Hiroshi-kun, I want you to walk your little sister to school, today," Mom said as she served the soup.

"Why? That's way out of my way!"

"Don't argue, please. She has no one to walk with, and I don't want her on the streets alone."

"What's the matter, Insect?" I said to Hainoko, "Nobody like you enough to walk with you?"

"Boy!" growled Pops, "It's a man's place to take care of weaklings like women. Show your gonads. Be a man!"

"Uh, right," I muttered. "Get arrested for indecent exposure. Very manly." He flipped the paper back up before him and refused to be baited.

Hainoko blinked at me and said, "Yoriko had to go to her grandmothers for a week, but in a few days the space aliens will come along and take me away, and you won't have to worry about me any more."

"Space aliens would bring you back as soon as they heard you whine, Rodent! Cry, cry, cry!"

"Mom!"

"Don't tease her, Hiroshi."

"(Sigh) All right, Mom."

"Here, Hai-chan. I fixed lunch in your favorite panda-bear bento, so you be sure and enjoy it." Mom paused as if to rest, then handed it to her.

"I will, Mommy," Hainoko gave me a warning look as if to say, 'If my big brother doesn't spoil it somehow'.

"Are you okay, Mom?" I asked. Hainoko crowded close to support Mom when she seemed about to fall over.

"I am fine, children. Just a cold. It's nothing (dramatic pause) life-threatening. You go on to school, now."

Pop looked up from his paper to check the sports scores on the miniscule table TV. The Giants had a good start on the season and he wanted to see the highlights before leaving for work. "Back by midnight," he decreed.

"Sure, Pop. Can I stop over for a snack, somewhere?"

"If you're back by midnight."

"Pop, everyone else gets to stay -"

"Midnight."

Pop's voice did not waver. He could repeat the same word, tone by tone, timbre by timbre, decibel by decibel, all day long. "You need your sleep to maintain your virility," he explained.

"Okay, Pop," I said as I left the door open and cleared the steps in a bound, headed for Daisuke's.

"Hiroshi!"

"Yes, Mom?" I called back from the street.

"Please take Hainoko by her school."

Oh. Yeah. "Right, Mom. Sorry."

"Apologize to Hainoko. I am not the one offended."

Apologize to the shrimp? Ewwww.

HAINOKO:

Bullies are not always boys, and they are not always from the poorer neighborhoods. Hainoko desperately needed a friend. It was not easy being a nobody in a school where the playground was dominated by a two snobby bullies, even if those bullies were girls.

The two sisters Deirdre and Deirdrum made Hainoko miserable, taking her lunch and laughing when Hainoko cried, and then lying about it when the playground supervisors came to see what was wrong. They always made it seem like Hainoko had started the fights, and her classmates always agreed with the snobs.

Hainoko needed a friend, and when she could not find one on the playground she tried for the next best thing - an edge. She became sneaky. In fact, Hainoko was so good at surviving that there were days when she actually got to eat her own lunch. Not that the bullies wanted her food. They only wanted to hurt and humiliate someone, and Hainoko was handy. When they took the food, they would throw it away, spoil it by spitting on it, or pour dirt over the rice and fishcakes.

So, Hainoko spent her school days in a kind of living hell. The only person who made it better was Yoriko, who had moved in next door and walked to school with Hainoko. While the bullies would pick on this neighbor girl also, they would not bother Hainoko and Yoriko when they were together.

When Hainoko complained to her parents, she was disappointed. Father was always too tired, or too busy, and he was uncomfortable around schools. Mother never felt well enough to go down to the school and talk to the principal, and Hiroshi - well...

Hiroshi was a big brother. End of subject.

She stood at the gate, her bento clutched to her breast, not wanting to cross the threshold into the war zone. Her adversaries were in there, obscured by other children, but they could find her as unerringly as sharks found distressed swimmers. They could smell blood.

"What are you waiting for? Go on! I gotta get to school!" Hiroshi encouraged her, in his own way.

Hainoko looked back at him, mutely pleading, but of course he could not understand. He was a big boy. He never got in trouble. He had a friend. With a sigh, she stepped through the gate and awaited her doom. She felt, rather than saw, her brother hurry away to his own schoolyard, where kids were nice to one another. He never looked back. He did not see the ominous shadows sliding up to her, nor hear the jeers as Deirdre and Deirdrum found her bento and took it from her. He did not see the bento flying over the fence to be crushed by a passing truck.

For Hainoko, it was just the start of another day.

HIROSHI:

If wishes could really come true, I would I could wish that last night had never happened. It was a bad dream. It happened to someone else. I denied it, categorically and imperatively.

Unfortunately, at school all the talk was about the singer who had popped up, sang a marvelous song, then disappeared at the stroke of midnight. They were even calling me Cinderella. I didn't know why I got so upset, hearing them drool over her. It's not like I turned into a girl every day. I was not Ranma.

It was like that all morning. There were some really weird Cinderella rumors, but I tried to discount them. What they couldn't pin on me did not happen.

Finally, something happened to take everyone's mind off me. Kodachi showed up. She looked awful. I mean, she looks great, especially when she dresses out for gym, but you could tell she had been in a fight, and she had not won, and she was pissed.

We were eating lunch in the shade of the trees when black rose petals began to fall about one side of the clearing. I was lucky or I would have been one of the first students who fell unconscious. Ranma quickly grabbed Akane and carried her into the open, then turned to face a whirlwind of razor-ribbons and gymnast's clubs.

"Stand aside, Dearest Ranma!" cried Kodachi. She was wearing her combat leotard, which exposed the bruises on her legs. "Do not protect this witch, Darling Ranma! She is not worthy! She hides behind a mask to attack, and she leaves a common flower as her calling card!"

Ranma blocked the missiles and cried, "Will ya lay off, Kodachi? She's been with us all morning! There is no way she could have attacked you!" Akane, still showing her own bruises from the day before, looked at Ranma in surprise, as if she expected him to add an insult.

He finally convinced Kodachi that Akane was innocent. The leotard clad girl came closer, clasped Ranma and leaned her head against his breast while she sobbed, "For you, Ranma-sama Dearest, I will refrain from attacking this peasant!"

Then she leaped away, calling "But that cowardly masked girl, whomever she is, shall feel my wrath! I will find her and show her the revenge of the Kunos! Hohohohohohohoho!"

In the uneasy silence which followed, I leaned over and asked Ranma, "Revenge of the Kunos?"

He made a wry face. "If it's worse than bento-breath behind us, I don't wanna know."

"I heard that, Saotome!" Kuno growled, "Show some respect for your sempai!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. I just did."

-------------

I found Ryoga that night, and dragged him home to our apartment. He came without argument, which surprised me. At least he was no longer trying to poke things with his finger while shouting, "Bakusai tenketsu!"

I asked him what had happened. Why had I been changed into a girl and chased around like that? I got angry. I yelled at him, and he took the abuse in the manner of a prize boar ignoring a pesky fly. He merely shrugged and tried to avoid talking about it, as if it were not real, which made me shout that much louder.

He merely looked down at his bracelet now and then and tried, not very successfully, to hide a yawn.

"I know it happened! You were there! You saw!" I pulled at my hair in frustration and yelled, "We were talking about wishing and I said 'I want to be a rock star', and..."

-poof-

I went on in a decidedly softer, gentler voice, "...and now I am again, and I didn't really want to be, and oh, Kami-sama! I'm stuck again! What if it is permanent? Daisuke's coming over! I have to hide! Where can I hide?"

In the hall an ancient upright cabinet was stored. I thought of closing myself in it. However, there was a mirror on the cabinet door. It caught me and would not let me go. Looking at the diaphonous blouse and the blue mini-skirt and jacket combo I was wearing, I sighed. "What am I going to do now? Daisuke is coming over tonight! We were going to cruise the park for chicks! Specially ones who look just like this, darn it! I can't wear this in public! I can see myself through it!"

Myself.

There was someone standing in my place and she was a she, quite obviously, and it was me, and I was going to start doing something painful to that mirror very soon if I did not look away from it.

Ryoga was unhelpful. He was wearing one of those chain-link bracelets with an inscribed plate. He kept reading the inscription as if he could not remember what it said.

"All I know is that you have a recurring wish which requires a trigger to make it work," he said. "Your trigger is..."

"I know! I know!" I blurted, "Saying the words 'I want to be a rock star'!" I was unhappy. I was deeply depressed. Why did my voice make me sound so thrilled to be alive that I could hug everyone? Yeck. I did not want to hug anyone.

He went on, "According to this, since you did not request any changes following your trial period, you will remain in your rock star form for two hours, the average length of a rock music performance. (mumblemumble) You will quit turning into your rock star form once you get what you really wanted from the wish."

"This is not a rock star costume! This is a disgrace! This is an embarrassment! Just look at this!"

He took a really good look at me and turned abruptly away, staunching his nose. He said, "Adyway, chewel be bag do dorbal affer doo hours."

"I can't wait! I'll just have to find a way to undo it. I'll say the words again! 'I want to be a rock star'! I don't want to be a rock star! Star rock a be to want I! Hot water! Maybe that will do it!"

I splashed.

"No, it didn't! Cold water! I'll try that!"

I splashed, again.

"No, again! Dammit! Nothing does anything!"

"There is one gambit which might work, when Daisuke gets here," Ryoga said as he lifted his backpack.

"Anything! What?"

"I have learned of the Saotome ultimate secret technique, to be used only in the face of total disaster."

"Great! What is it?"

"Run," he shrugged the backpack into place.

"Wouldn't that look great! A blue-eyed bimbo running through down-town Nerima! Where the heck would I go?"

Ryoga shrugged again. "That's your problem," he said, brushing his hands of the entire matter.

"Waitaminute! You can't just walk off like this! This is partly your fault, too, you know!"

"Quit pawing me!"

"Sorry. I was just carried away. I am about to be publicly humiliated, and you grant wishes. Grant me this one wish!"

"No! No can do. And quit talking about it! Something bad will happen!"

I wilted. "There has to be something you can conjure up! Can't you control it?"

Ryoga frowned. "The only way I can explain it, something in my aura is conditioned to grant wishes to some deserving, unselfish person. I don't get to decide who that person is. And if I talk about it any more, we are both going to regret it."

"I'll be deserving! I'll be unselfish!"

Ryouga paused, then asked, "What do you think of Akane?"

"What?"

"Do you think Akane is cute and deserving?"

"Are you off your rocker? Sure, I think Akane is cute, but...she is also engaged to Ranma. I wouldn't want to spoil that!" Not and live to tell about it...if Ranma didn't kill me she would!

"That's not what I was asking," Ryoga said, heading for the door.

I was becoming desperate. "If you don't stay and at least try, I will start screaming!"

"Say what?" Ryoga paled and softly eased the door shut without exiting.

"I said I would scream!"

There was a haunted gleam of fear in his eye. He could handle charging rhinocerii, but he could not handle this. He almost whimpered as he said, "But...but...isn't that sort of...girlish?"

"Look at me, you blockhead! Do I look like a guy right now?"

"Uh...no," He winced as he rubbed his forehead.

"Right now, I AM a girl. Just like Ranma!"

Ryoga stiffened at the comparison, eyed me with sudden suspicion. "You are not like Ranma," he declared. "I don't hate you...yet."

"Well, you are going to! How far are you going to get if I chase you down the street accusing you of taking advantage of me?"

"You...now..." Torn in two directions, Ryoga settled onto his haunches and tried to reason with me. He would have had more luck with Ranma. I was seething. Bubbling, perkily seething.

"And furthermore..." I wanted to dump my whole life of misery onto him while I had him on the defensive. I wanted to let him know exactly what kind of trouble he had caused. I never got the chance.

There was a sudden brightness as the door opened and someone walked in. That someone stopped, stared, and cried out, "Woah! You're here! This is great, and I beat Hiroshi to you! Boy, am I lucky!"

"Daisuke? Oh, no! Look, I can explain..."

"How's about a date? Let's beat it before that joker Hiroshi gets here."

"H...Hiroshi?" I stuttered, thinking, The dumb goof. He does not recognise me. He is trying to date me because he thinks I am my girl.

I looked from Ryoga's confused frown to Daisuke's feverish grin, and something clicked. My scowl traveled, with a knack worthy of Ryoga's navigational skills, until it became a calculating smile. I contemplated vengeance, or at the very least, a whale of a practical joke. Steal my girl, will he?

"Of course!" I said, plastering all the sincerity I could muster onto my face. I had to get a coat, a blanket, or anything to cover up with. No way was I going out dressed as I was.

"And while you are buying me dinner, you can tell me about your friend, Hiroshi."

"What friend, Hiroshi?" Daisuke drawled, wearing a sloppy, dazed smile. If I didn't know him better, I would have called him an oversexed, hormone-driven teenager with lust on the brain. As a matter of fact, I did know him well enough to call him that, and the fact that I was the subject of that lust made me uncomfortable. I wanted to retaliate.

"Say goodbye to Ryoga," I suggested, dragging Daisuke along by the tie.

"Yeah, sure. Bai-bai, Rogy-kun."

Ryoga watched us go with something like fear in his expression.

"Hope you have money, sap," I muttered to myself, drawing on one of Moms' coats. It was about as fashionable as a tent. "This evening is going to cost you plenty."

---------------

The evening was a mixed success. I had dined sumptuously and extravagantly, with Daisuke footing the bill.

However...

Why did I do it? I meant at first to get a dig at Dai-kun for presuming to steal 'my girl'. Sometime during the evening, when the two hours were up, I was going to jump up and say, 'Look at me, you chump! Guess who I really am!' and then I would suddenly shift my appearance and he would be so shocked he would probably pass out. At least that was the plan. I mean, I would have to tell him sooner or later, anyway. He was my buddy.

However...

We first went by the park, the way we always did, scouting out goodlooking girls who would not let us approach for a million yen but who would be disappointed if we did not notice them. Somewhere along the way, I began to see a different side of Daisuke. Beneath the bluster, he was deathly afraid of girls. Oh, he started out brash and bragging, but as the hour wore on he began to withdraw. Then we hurried to a restaurant for dinner, where I ordered the most expensive meal I could find on the menu. Even then, I intended to let him in on the secret, tell him how it happened and have a good laugh.

However...

There were a couple of girls from our class sitting at the next table, and when they saw me they decided that I needed rescuing. So they invited me to the 'powderroom'. They practically dragged me away from the table, to the girl's restroom, with me frantically trying to escape. Once inside, I hurriedly turned my face to the wall to keep from nosebleeding, but all they wanted to do was stand around and talk, which was fortunate. Besides, turning to the wall did not help, since it was a mirror.

I locked myself in a stall and talked over the walls. After they got over the thrill of talking to a 'real' rock star, they started getting personal.

"I can't believe it!"Yuki gushed, "Of all they guys that you could date, you choose Daisuke? What could you see in him?"

"Well, I..." I started to say.

"Oh, you don't know!" Saori took up the lecture, "He's always been a member of the Loser's Club along with his friend, Hiroshi. I think Hiroshi must be the president of the club. Maybe Dai-kun is a good kisser? I bet that's it. He certainly isn't all that great looking. Did you kiss him yet? Is he any good?"

"Well, I..." I started to come out and face them, but about that time one of them said she had to 'adjust some straps'. So I chose to remain locked in.

"I think maybe he must be very funny or else he is very polite and gentlemanly," mused Yuki. "There's no way a girl as good looking and classy as you are would go out with some dweeb like Dai-kun without there being something good about him."

"Well, I..." I started to say.

"You're right!" Saori piped up, "I'm going to get Dai-kun alone sometime and give him a field test!"

"Wow," said Yuki, mockingly, "Talk about self-discipline!"

"He might not be so bad. Like Cinderella said, there has to be something to him."

I sat silently waiting, forgotten, as they continued talking and planning on how to get Dai alone. I was upset that they thought so poorly of me as Hiroshi; happy that Dai was going to be getting a few good breaks with some girls; confused because I was irritated that they wanted to find out what made him attractive to me. I mean, I wasn't jealous or anything, but we had come here together.

As I made my way back from the 'powderroom', I saw our booth surrounded by a group of our guy friends from school. I quickly sat and huddled down by drawing the edges of the tent tight around my neck. The heat was almost unbearable, but there was no way I was going to allow any of these perverts a glimpse of what lay underneath the canvas. They called Daisuke aside to talk to him, as if I were not even there.

"Hey, check it out! Daisuke's got a date with Cinderella-chan!"

"Oh, no! Say it ain't so, man! She's not with him...he's with her! He's a lapdog! Gotta be!"

"That's right! Daisuke! Is SHE really your date?"

Daisuke replied somberly, "She's my date."

"What's wrong with you? A knockout like that and you're complaining? Man, I'd be caroling from the housetops!"

Daisuke turned his head to one side and hissed, "She likes girls, understand? I take her to the park and she wants to watch other chicks! Is that right? Am I in hell?"

"Oh, man, a lesbo! What a challenge!"

"He's right! A groovy chick like her needs some lovin' to see the proper path! You wanta tag team?"

"Never mind," said Daisuke, aware of the growing swarm of guys around his 'date'. "I'm gonna take her home. It's getting late."

"You are so noble. Is it true...that she disappears at midnight?"

"I dunno," Daisuke stopped to think, and he brightened, able to focus on only one thing at a time. "Let's watch and see!"

"Hey, Cin-chan!" cried someone, "Wanna autograph my tongue?"

"Let's go," I said to my 'date'. Daisuke examined his depleted wallet and agreed. I was beginning to feel sorry for him. He would have spent his entire savings, beggared himself, even agreed to do chores to help pay for my entertainment, and I was tricking him. I had seen a new side of him that night.

Serves him right, I thought. But, I'm gonna owe him when this is over. When. Oh, Kami-sama, I hope it will be over, someday soon!

As we walked away from the restaurant, I thought about the money he had spent. He's not as rich as a Kuno. He probably expected some little show of appreciation, which I was determined not to give. The two hour limit was approaching fast and I had to get away from him. If I stood and chatted I was going to change in front of him, and suddenly that was the last thing I wanted to do. As I thought about how easily the girls had accepted me, I wondered who else I might get close to, in disguise.

I stopped on a street corner a block or so from my apartment and said, "Well, I guess it's g'bye. I had a great time. Did you?"

"Yes." He lied, looking anywhere except at me. If he had stopped trying to act like someone else, I would have relented and told him everything.

Then he stepped closer. I stood and looked up into Dai-kun's eyes. Between the gleams of uncertainty and wounded pride, I saw something else that unnerved me.

I saw something that looked like hope.

He was getting ready to pucker up. I had to get away from there.

"Look!" I cried, pointing up toward downtown Tokyo, "There's Godzilla!"

"Where?" he looked. The old cynical Daisuke I had known would never have fallen for such a stupid stunt. The new Daisuke, more vulnerable, more gullible, had to look. When he turned back I was already around the corner and gone.

THE TENDO HOUSE:

"Forgive me, Saotome, I have something to do. No time for a match, right now," said Suon.

"Just as well," replied Genma. "I have some serious thinking to do, myself." With that, he splashed into a panda and was soon snoring beneath a tree near the koi pond.

"Where's Father?" Kasumi asked later.

"Out. I think he's upset for some reason," replied Nabiki. "He has been mooning around all day."

"He keeps looking at our old family picture," Akane added.

"Oh, then he will be okay," Kasumi returned to the salad.

Nabiki exchanged glances with Akane, as if to say, 'How did she decide that?'

End: Chapter Three


	4. Drawing Closer

Disclaimer: No gerbils were harmed in the writing of this fanfic, although a few are still on medication.

ASHES - A Cinderella Story

Chapter Four - Drawing Closer, Getting Caught

Weave around and you may find  
Fate is cruel and love is blind  
Let us sweep and let us soar  
Here we go with Chapter Four.

HEAVEN:

Urd stretched luxuriantly and rolled her eyes as she spoke into the transcendental headset, "Oh, I think we can come to some kind of an arrangement, Short, Dark and Scrawny...yes, I'm talking to you, Loki-sama. I suppose you expect to wine and dine me, and then call it even?" She added with a throaty chuckle, "I don't think so."

"Face it, Loki-baby," Urd purred into the receiver, "It was your little prank that split them up in the first place. The way I see it, your tail is hanging in the breeze, not the other way around, and I will not let you forget it. Oh, yeah? Not likely!"

The platinum-haired goddess signed off and stretched again. "Back to the salt mines, I guess," she yawned. "Nothing on the traces. If Mara introduced a virus, she did it long ago, which does not make sense. Heh. Her attention span isn't that long."

"Might as well check up on my helper," she propped her chin in hands to peer into the wide-screen very-very-very-very high resolution monitor.

NOT HEAVEN:

-ping-  
-instructions follow-

"What is it now?"

-remain at present location for instructions-

"I am sick of granting wishes! I never asked for this!"

-poing-  
-sensors indicate presence of demon in present direction of travel-

"Wup. What about this way?"

-poing-  
-strongly advise you do not travel in that direction-

"This way?"  
-poing-  
"That way?"  
-poing-  
"Up? Down?"  
-poing-

"I give up! Which way am I supposed to go?"

-remain at present location for instruction-

Ryoga dropped his backpack and propped against a storefront to rest. "Let me know when you make up your mind," he growled. With the ease of long practice, he set his mind to awaken at the first sign of trouble and relaxed. He did not rest for long.

"Hey!"

Ryoga started out of a doze, leaning against the side of the appliance store. Wondering what had awakened him, he looked up and down the sidewalk and across the street. Nothing. He closed his eyes and put his head back against the wall.

"Hey!"

The sound was coming from a television screen on display in the store window. Holding a hand up to shade the glass, Ryoga peered in. A platinum-haired woman, chin propped in hands, was smiling back at him.

"You're that...what are you doing here?" Ryoga goggled.

"Hi! How's things working out?"

"Take this back! I don't want it!" cried Ryoga, yanking the bracelet from his wrist and extending it toward the image on the screen. He ignored the plate glass window which had been in the way and which bowed inward, groaning with the stress. "I have been hounded from one end of Japan to the other, because everyone wants a wish, and I am tired! And then, every time I grant a wish I get chased by some demon! I haven't had any rest for two days!"

"Aww," the platinum-haired goddess tskked. "I'm so sorry. Can I do anything to help?"

"Let me stop! I demand that you allow me to quit! Since you did this to me, I can't use my bakusai tenketsu!"

"Is that all? Don't you have a special someone you want to give a wish to, before you give up your powers?"

"I want..." Ryoga paused. "I want to give Akane her wish. If only she would think before she wastes it!"

"Oooh," smiled the goddess. "But you have multiple wish granting. You could give her dozens of chances! And you could use your own...oh. You deliberately limited your own wishes! What fortitude! You are amazing! What a tribute to your ability in martial arts!"

"Well, I try..." Ryoga colored, embarrassed by the praise, but then he stopped short, "...Hey, don't try to sweet-talk me out of this! I want to quit!"

"Tell you what. Take a breather. Go back to Nerima and visit your friends. Hand out a few more wishes. I can spare you for a while."

"But I don't want to - "

The plate glass window straightened back to flatness, shoving him away and back onto the sidewalk. A different platinum-haired woman was on the television screen, advertising pet food.

"I'll show her! I'm not going anywhere near Nerima!" Ryoga deliberately stepped off, marching toward the distant majestic peak of Fuji, a path which, oddly enough, took him straight into Nerima.

DEFINITELY NOT HEAVEN:

"Oh, that was fun," snarled Mara to the short, dark, and scrawny man by her side. "She called in a temp, just like you said, but I can't find him. How am I going to get that PDA if I can't find it?"

"Why do you need the PDA? You gave her the warning, didn't you?"

"She's jumping around like a bear on an ant hill!" smirked Mara with satisfaction. "But I'm not finished with her, yet. Give me that remote terminal and I'll make her life so miserable she'll weep!"

"I can't help with the PDA," said Short, Dark and Scrawny. "However, if I were to look for temporary services, I'd say the Temple of the Good Deed has a number in the phone book."

Mara just grinned, evilly. "Tell me one thing," she said. "What do you get out of this? Why do you want to mess with Urd?"

Loki examined a fingernail. "Let's just say I owe her," he said, with a distant smile.

HIROSHI:

Lies. All lies!

Still, I had to admire the poster maker's work. He was an artist; the poster had certainly cost me enough. He had used a picture from a telephoto camera to create the illusion of a warm, breathing human being, on the concert stage, smiling out from the surface of the paper.

I knew better. The girl in the photo had not even been breathing most of the time. She had been afraid, petrified, in fear for her life. At least, I did not remember smiling.

Hmmm. Yet, still...

So that was how the public saw Cinderella. Not bad, when I could squelch the tiny voice of reason that kept chittering inside my skull. If I applied my years of expertise, I could enjoy this picture. A little too much ribbon here in front, maybe, but someone with an airbrush... Accckk! If I could think this, then someone else was already doing it! I was being violated by proxy, and I had all my clothes on!

I gathered my resolve and determined to keep my humor. Only fools would waste their time playing with pixilated images. I would laugh at them. I would sneer at anyone who found comfort in distorting reality in order to support their crippled vanity. I would...I would...I wondered if the same artist might have any posters of Primrose at a reasonable price.

Still, I would probably attempt to maim the first person I saw selling a picture of a nude Cinderella. After all, a man must have some principles.

Which reminded me. Buried in the bottom of my closet I had some excellent snapshots of Ranma in a state of disdress, bought from Nabiki, whom, I was almost certain, had taken them without his consent. Would I have to worry about Nabiki taking pictures of me? She wouldn't. Naaaw. Never happen. I would watch my back.

But first, I had to protect the poster. The hiding place had to be perfect. Hainoko had a nose for my stuff. She had stolen CDs, posters, manga, homework, and even my favorite chewing gum. (Now that, she returned. Used. Ewwww.) I mean, how am I supposed to keep anything when she can just walk in and take it? Under the floorboard. Superglue the loose board. There, safe. A ninja could not get in there. It would be my secret stash, a guilty memory to take out and reminice about, someday when all this would have been forgotten.

I sagged onto the sofa, bushed beyond belief. Today had been fraught with tension, even worse than yesterday. Everyone was gossiping about the mystery girl, Cinderella, who she was and where she had come from. Illogically, I expected to be exposed at any second. They could not know anything, yet my nerves were on edge. The other students kept staring at me, probably because I wasn't hanging around with Daisuke.

Daisuke, my old pal, my best chum, was busily stabbing me in the back. He yukked it up in the gym, bragging to all the guys about how far he had gone with Cinderella. In class, he winked and made sickening faces at the girls. To make matters worse, some of them winked back, especially Yuki and Saori, who had mentioned that they were determined to find what secret charm Daisuke had to attract a fabulous chick like Cinderella.

By now I realized that I had sabotaged myself by going on that date. Then I had sealed my fate by not revealing my secret to Daisuke when I had the chance. I would have to get him aside and tell him the truth, before he smeared my reputation any more.

--------------

Someone was trying to beat down our door. I waited for Mom to answer it, but she must have been out of the building. Pops was at work. Hainoko never answered the door. That left me, and I was bushed, beat, and feeling sorry for myself. I was still sleepy and wanted to go back to my nap but someone was trying to knock our door down, which was leading me in a circle, so I answered the door.

Daisuke was prepared to pound on our the door again when I opened it and stuck my head out. "Hey, have you heard?" he said excitely, "Primrose is at Ucchan's!"

I wondered, muzzy headed, "What in the world is she doing there?"

"I don't know, but that's where I'm going!" Daisuke had an eager expression on his face, along with a confidence I had never seen before.

"Ah, man," I put on a long face and tried to look even more tired than I was. My heartbeat had tripled and my exhaustion had vanished, but I did not want to show it. "What's the point? She'd never notice me! Besides, I have that test to study for. I can't go."

Meanwhile, I was thinking. Not as myself. But in my secret identity... This situation had to have a up side. I rubbed at my eyes, trying to scrub away some of the sleep. I was still groggy, for some reason. Last night had really drained me.

Oops. Last night. There was something I had to do, and I might as well get it over with, now.

"Well, I'm going," Daisuke pouted. "Go ahead. Stay home. Break up the dynamic duo. You are shaking the very fabric of the space-time continuum."

"Wait," I said. "About last night..."

He lingered at the door in what I recognised as the insecurity of guilt. With a sidelong glance he said, "You're jealous because I stole Cinderella-chan from you. I understand. In time you will forgive me."

"I am not jealous!" I blurted.

He pressed the back of his hand against his forehead in pure Kuno-esque fashion, "I must go forth into the cold, dark, treacherous night, knowing that my best friend, whom I have wronged by stealing his girl, actually thinks I did it deliberately!"

"...Well?" The schnook had not noticed that he had dropped his date off less than a block from my apartment. I doubt he remembered where he had picked her up.

"It was an accident! Honest! It wouldn't happen again in a million years! She was there, and she was all over me! Trust me, I was saving you from her! She would have eaten you alive!"

"I don't want to even imagine what you mean by that!"

"Someday you will forgive me," he paused again at the door to gesture dramatically. "Farewell. I must go, for Primrose calls me. She will want me to escort her home. Another date, another notch..."

"I'll notch your head, Dumbass! Look!" And then I said the magic words, "'I want to be a rock star.'"

-poof-

Something clattered to the floor and rattled around. I think it was Daisuke's jaw.

"Now," I growled cutely, "Would you like to repeat that garbage about me pawing you?"

"Woo-woo!"

"Dai-kun..."

"Pant...pant...pant..."

"Zip it, will you? This is ME, Hiroshi!" My hand was invisible to him as I waved it in front of his face, but when I stepped around him, his eyes followed. "Do you hear? Daisuke!"

"Wow. Hiroshi. That's really you?"

"Are you better? Can you talk?"

"Did you go to China, too? I'm going to carry cold water all the time!"

"No! Cold water doesn't work on me! I made a wish, and the whole thing went to crap. About last night..."

"It was great!"

"That is not what I was talking about!" I tried again, "Now, about last night..."

"I am free tonight, and tomorrow, and the day after that, and..."

"Idiot!" I rarely struck my cohort in academic crime, but this time he deserved it. I popped him on the top of his head with the palm of my hand. He never even blinked. "I am not going out with you! I am Hiroshi! I am NOT a girl!" I hit him again.

"Ow!" he said. "Well, you coulda fooled me, Hiroshi!" His eyes went roving and he smiled a slow, calculating smile. "Oh, boy, could you fool me. You can fool me all day, and..."

"Knock it off, willya?" I said, pushing him away. My voice was too soft. I wanted to scream, but that would have sounded even more like a girl. "Why are you taking this so calmly? This is as bad as Ranma's curse!"

"Yeah," he agreed, wiping at the corner of his mouth, his gaze never leaving the vicinity of my chest. "Bad."

"Well, I can choose when I change, and I don't have to worry about water. But everything else is not good. I am stuck this way for two hours."

"Two hours. Gee, that's terrible," He seemed deep in thought, with one finger raised as though about to say something.

"What?"

"It's the answer to a prayer!"

"What?"

"Don't you remember? You told Ranma that if one of us could turn into a girl, we'd be more generous than he was!" He did not seem to notice that I had stopped to stare at him. "You're in luck! Now you can share!"

"You have about two seconds to rethink that thought before I take out your tonsils with a hockey stick!"

"Uh...okay," Daisuke appeared to agree, only to take off on a different tack. He approached the subject hesitantly, as though concerned that it might turn and punch him in the nose - which it might have. I was getting a little irritated. "What I really want to know is...what size are you?"

Blink. Blink. "Size?"

"I'd say less than Shampoo and more than Akane, but..."

"Whaddya mean?" I gasped, "Are you a pervert?"

Daisuke looked at me with misty, hurt eyes. "Of course I am!" he exclaimed, "What did you expect?"

"It's none of your business! Idiot!"

"Wait here! I'll get a tape measure!"

"What part of 'when hell freezes over' don't you understand? Just forget it!" I shoved him, protesting, out the door. What was the matter with him? I ask for understanding and he wants to measure my...my...OOooooo!

------------

I looked around after he left. No one. The place was deserted, with the only movement my reflection in the hall mirror, which I wanted desperately to avoid. I had almost two hours before I became Hiroshi again, and I did not want to be alone with myself. Also, I did not want to be around the house when my parents came in. I shrugged. Might as well go to Ucchan's.

I suited action to impulse, grabbed a coat and hurried out the door, feeling the outer surface of a bubble of panic. I was going to step out into the public eye. Alone. As a girl. Somewhere in the base of my heart a muscle quivered. So I could see Primrose. As a girl. Oh, dear gods. I was actually looking forward to it. I was sinking into a pit of self-delusion.

I evaded Daisuke, who was lurking outside to escort me, by simply running away from him. It surprised me how fast I could run, legs pumping, arms swinging, coat flapping, past shocked pedestrians, leaving him behind, heaving and blowing.

Yes, Primrose was at Ucchan's. So were half the students from Furinkan, making it impossible to get to the door. I took off the sweltering hood, trying to see more clearly, wary of bumping into Daisuke. Somewhere along the way my reason had begun to reassert itself, and I had almost convinced myself to turn away and return home when I ran into a familiar face.

"Yo, you're new around here, ain'cha? Y'look kinda lost."

"Ulp!" I froze, not wanting to let Ranma get a close look at me. Not that he would have recognised me, but I was having a heart attack at the moment, and I didn't want him to look closely.

"Oh, don't pay any attention to him," said his companion, digging her elbow into Ranma's side. "He has to hit on every pretty girl he meets. Hi! I'm Akane!"

"I'm...um...I'm..."

"What's with the crowd?" wondered Ranma, "Ukyo must be giving it away free, tonight."

"Raaanma..."

"What? What'd I say?"

"You are hopeless!"

"I didn't say nuthin'..."

"I think Primrose is here," I said, finally managing to get my jaw moving. Who could I say I was? Why didn't I just stay home the way I said I would? Why did I have to change into a rock star, or something? Why was I asking all these questions?

"Hey, look!" someone shouted, "It's Cinderella! She's here, too!"

"Oh, boy," I groaned.

"Oh, of course! You're Cinderella?" Akane gasped, "Why, I've heard about you! That's all anyone would talk about at school, today!"

Yeah, I know. Talk about embarrassing. Oh, I did not mind it when they talked about how well I sang, but the boys tended to drool and the girls got this strange look in their eyes, as if they wanted to talk about something else.

"Sing us something, Cinderella!" Suddenly I was surrounded by a crowd. "Give us an autograph! Give us your clothes!"

"Oh, no!" I said, thinking out loud, "I've got to get out of here before they mob me!" It did not help that I had spotted Daisuke at that moment, and he was fighting his way through the mob to get to me. He was being hampered by several girls who seemed intent on getting his attention.

"Put me down! What do you think you are doing?" Akane demanded as Ranma swung her into his arms.

"We're going around back," said Ranma. "Can't be any more crowded than it is out here!"

With that he jumped to the roof of the building. He turned to call back at me, "Wait there and I'll be right back!"

"Don't bother," I said from beside him.

"Wup," he said. Recovering quickly from his surprise he added, "Nice jump."

"I find I can do all sorts of stuff when I put my mind to it," I said, while my private thoughts raced. How did I do that? I saw him go and decided that I wanted out of there, and up I went. Yeah, nice jump. Three meters, straight up? I had wished to be a rock star, not an acrobat!

Konatsu was at the back door, all smiles and gracious manners, and he led us through the busy dining area where the fans were elbow to elbow in the corner. It was easy to guess who was at their center. Primrose.

Then I saw her, the most beautiful girl in the world, sitting at the counter. She looked up from the crowd, saw me, and waved me over.

"Hi! Over here! My name is Kidori!" she called. I floated closer on a cloud and she asked, "Is your name really Cinderella?"

All I could do, in response to her question, was nod my head. She acted like a fan, but not just any fan. Without her stage makeup on, she still looked beautiful. I was unable to speak around my heart in my throat. It hurt when it beat so strongly.

Somehow, Konatsu arrived through the crowd and took our order, and I said I was not hungry. Also, I was broke. I had brought no money, having no pocket to put it in, anyway. I said so, and ten guys immediately crowded around to offer to pay my tab.

"Uh, I don't think I ought to allow them to do that," I hesitated, thinking of the consequences when some guy tried to collect on his investment.

"Let them all chip in," said Kidori. She showed me a napkin and a pen. "If you feel like it, give them each an autograph signed, 'With my gratitude.' They'll love it. Fans are so nice! Now, take off your coat and sit down. Let's enjoy the food!"

"Yeah. Nice," I said. I had seen 'nice' from the other side of the fence. I was beset with memories. I always had an agenda when I was generous to a girl.

Then, without thinking, I took off the trench coat. The place got deathly quiet and I began to think that maybe I had made another mistake.

"That's...a nice outfit," said Kidori, her eyes widening. "Isn't it the same one you wore onstage?"

"What there is of it," I agreed, willing the blush out of my face. My cheeks were probably blushing as well, because I could feel a draft. I considered placing a napkin across my lap, gave up on that and wrapped the coat around my waist.

"But it's beautiful!" she gasped, "You're so pretty! I am jealous!"

"There are disadvantages," I said. Particularly when you don't want to attract attention. Having a guy call me 'cute' was enough to give me the blind staggers.

"Oh, I heard you sing at the concert!" she went on, "It was breathtaking!"

"It was a lullaby! A simple nursery song. Nothing special!" I wanted to sink out of sight. How could she sit here in front of all these people and carry on a conversation as if they were not there?

"The guys in the band want to record it, if you'll let them pay you for it."

"They can have it. No problem," I waved off the thought.

Part of me asked, 'Where was my brain? How could I pass up money?', while another part responded, 'Profit? And just who would cash the checks?' The ensuing internal argument kept me from noticing when the crowd started thinning out. Ukyo and Konatsu had issued an edict, 'Paying guests, seated only.'

There are places and times when you have to ask yourself, am I in heaven or in hell? I was in both. Simultaneously. I was face to face with the girl of my dreams, but I was not myself.

"I loved your song, really!" Kidori bubbled. "It made me feel so warm and loved, and I wanted to spread it to the rest of the world. I nearly passed out, it felt so wonderful. Don't you feel loved when you sing it? I wanted to go right out and have my own baby. Are you choking?"

"No, no! Of course not!" I coughed.

"You have such a lovely voice, and I really ought to be jealous, I suppose Mother would expect me to scratch your eyes out, or something, but you just make me feel comfortable, as if I'd known you all my life. Do you think we could practice together, sometime? I would love that!"

"I...ah...yea...uh...I never thought about it." This was a little too fast for me. All I wanted was to get close enough to see her. Now she wanted me to sing with her?

"Please?" she begged, "Think about it? I've always had to practice alone - Mother is such a stuffy disciplinarian, and I had to keep house and clean up after everyone else, and then I had to go off alone to practice, and I'd love to have someone to sing a duet with. Oh! You are such a good listener! Here I've been talking your ear off and you haven't been able to say a word!"

"Oh, that's quite all right! Honest!" I had enough to think about, without my mouth saying stuff to get me deeper in trouble. I had assumed that this 'wish' thing would wear off. Now I found that I was not in such a hurry. She would not even glance my way while I was Hiroshi, but as Cinderella... Another thought came, unbidden, 'What if she likes me because I am a girl?' I shuddered in anguish. No. I had to tell her, sooner or later, who I was. If I could.

"Oh, no!" Kidori jumped up, "It's getting late! Mother will kill me if I'm not back in time for my night exercises. Oh, she won't really kill me, but y'know what I mean."

She said goodbye to Ukyo and Konatsu. Konatsu gave her a hug and a bow. "Thanks for having me over!" Kidori said to Konatsu, "You are so kind and generous!" Konatsu gave her another bow and held it until she was gone.

"Sweet kid," Ukyo said, leaning over the counter. "You'd never know she was so popular."

"Come to think of it, where are her bodyguards?" I wondered.

"Mistress Nobara does not like them," Konatsu supplied, cleaning the counter and fastidiously preserving the unused napkins for later service.

"Her mother must be a slave-driver," I said, and Konatsu nodded, making a wry face.

I wrapped my trench coat around my shoulders after she left, because suddenly there seemed to be a lot of guys with only me to watch, and it gave me a queasy feeling.

I wanted to go over to Ranma and say, 'Hey! I know how you feel, now! You really have it rough, don't you? Still, you wanna let me-boy date you-girl? (wink-wink)'. But I didn't do it. At the moment, I would die before I admitted to anyone what I was doing. It was bad enough that I had admitted my secret to Daisuke. I could trust Dai to not spread it about. Couldn't I?

Ukyo prepared to close the shop. "Stick around, Sugar," she told me, "We can talk. Tell us about yourself."

"Acck!" I looked at the clock and it said that I had four minutes left before my disguise vanished. "I can't stay out this late! I gotta run!" Where had my two hours gone?

I stepped out the door. Voices hushed. Faces turned.

I thought I had made all my current allotment of mistakes. Apparently I was wrong. Kidori had vanished like smoke before anyone had spotted her, but I was not so fortunate. The crowd saw me and converged. I heard voices clamoring for my attention, felt hands tugging at my sleeve, patting my face, roaming over my...

"Hey, watch it!" I snapped.

"Whatcha think I'm trying to do?" came the reply.

Behind me, Ranma and Ukyo were coming out of Ucchan's to rescue me, but I could not wait for them. I had to get out of there in a hurry. I leaped out of the crowd, somersaulted over one guy and took to the rooftops until I had left them behind.

Fears that I would relapse back into myself in public kept me running until I reached my own doorway. I was so glad to get back in time, that I was inside the apartment before it hit me that I was still not me.

So I tried to be cool and casual about it - walked through the hall, up the stairs, and into my room as if there was nothing unusual happening. Maybe no one saw me.

Except Pops. Uh-oh.

And Hainoko. Drat!

Hainoko came into my room - uninvited, of course - lugging the Cinderella poster I had hidden away so carefully. I almost lunged at her to grab it back before I remembered that I was still shape-shifted.

"Is this you?" Hainoko demanded, pointing to the blue ribbon wielding diva pictured on the poster.

"Yeah, that's me," I gruffed. That is, I tried to speak gruffly. What came out of my mouth was softer, sweeter, and impossibly perky. Man, I couldn't even sound rude in this form!

Hainoko stared somberly, then, as silently as she had appeared, she disappeared.

The apartment grew quiet. I tried to calm down and be patient for the few seconds until the change wore off.

Pops had watched me, bug-eyed, when I first came in. Now I heard his footsteps creaking toward my room and I cringed, trying to hide. It was a close thing - if Pops had slid the door open and stuck his head in a second sooner, he would have seen a radiant complexion and blue eyes in panic mode staring back at him. As it was, he hesitated, and the person receiving his lecture was male, pale, and inexplicably relieved.

"Don't you have any principles at all?" thundered Pops, "Bringing a girl into this house and into your room ALONE?" The thunder trailed off into puzzlement as he cast his eyes about the floor, the futon, the cabinet, the posters on the wall, the closet, and the window. "She gone already?"

I nodded dumbly, inwardly kicking myself for being so pre-occupied as to make such a stupid blunder.

"Oh," said Pops, and he sounded disappointed. "She looked like a hot - seemed like a nice girl. But, you should think about her reputation before you do something stupid." He looked about again before lowering his voice. "Just remember, kid. Don't forget the protection."

"Heh..." I scratched the back of my neck absently, and my voice squeaked, "I won't, Pops!" as I watched the door slide shut.

Oh, man! What had I done? Now even Pops thought I was a pervert, and I could not imagine what would've happened if Mom had seen me!

The door slid open again and Mom entered, stage left.

"I saw the girl tiptoeing up to your room. She was so young, so beautiful, so in love. To think such a liaison could be going on in my own house!" Mom sighed with deep emotion. "Oh, Hiroshi! You are growing up! I am so proud!"

Exit stage left.

"Oh, great," I groaned and collapsed.

End: Chapter Four


	5. A Primrose by Any Other Name

Disclaimer: No gerbils were harmed in the writing of this fanfic. Pay no attention to their protest lines.

ASHES - A Cinderella Story  
Chapter Five - A Primrose by Any Other Name

Woven lies take us to task  
When we hide behind a mask  
Let us jump and let us jive  
Here we go with Chapter Five.

NERIMA:

"She isn't really gone, you know."

The man dabbed at his face with a handkerchief and turned his eyes toward the woman who had fogged into being beside him. "In your world, perhaps," he said. "Here in mine, where I have chosen to remain, it gets a little lonely." He nodded his head and added, "I am honored. I did not expect you to come, yourself."

"For one of our most important - and cutest - mortals? How could I not?" The woman looked at him more closely and said, "You have decided!"

He took a deep breath and said, "Yes. One last glimpse. And you are the only one who can help me see her as she was. That is how I want to remember her."

There were few people around in the tidy park, with benches overlooking neatly groomed flowers and bushes. The one exception was this man sitting on one of the park benches, admiring the flowers, with a portable television set hissing white static beside him.

"Soon," she promised. "Right now, I am up to my...armpits...in work. It seems someone managed to introduce a 'worm' virus into Yygdrasil."

"Impossible! Can it be?" Any thought he had that she might be joking vanished at the seriousness of her frown.

"Tensquare on the truthmeter - she wasn't lying. It's there," she said through gritted teeth. "I just can't find the blamed thing."

"Ah," the man ventured a hesitant smile, leaning back to gaze at the manicured trees around them. "Yygdrasil, the ancient ash tree."

"Yep," the woman said, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees, taking in the quiet peace of the park. With a sardonic smile, she added, "Yygdrasil. The original hierarchical structure."

"As I recall my mythology," he said, "the tree has always been under some kind of attack. Snakes in the roots, goats in the branches. A never-ending battle, with the tree refreshing itself from your well."

The woman stopped as if stunned. "She wouldn't have," she muttered to herself. "But then - I believe you may have given me something to think about," she said to the man, as she hastily rose from the bench. The television set began to sputter again. "Please forgive me for delaying your wish, and for my abrupt departure!"

"Oh, do not trouble yourself on my account. I have waited this long to see her, I can wait awhile longer," the man waved her on, and the woman vanished. For a while he sat and enjoyed the warm breeze, then he shut off the television, checked the time, and left.

FURINKAN:

"Yo, Akane! Why was Mr. Tendo dressed up, last night?" Ranma coasted into class barely before the bell.

"He just went out, Ranma. Dads do that, sometimes."

"Yeah? Mine don't. He was bored 'cause he didn't have anyone to play 'go' with, so he tried to pick on me."

"You were a little noiser than usual. Didn't you bring an umbrella, today?"

Ranma looked back at Akane, who was covering a bookcase with plastic, and said, "No, why should I? It ain't supposed to rain, is it?"

"He hasn't heard the announcement," Yuki told Akane, unfolding her own umbrella. There was a 'whump' sound as other umbrellas opened about the room.

"What announcement?" Ranma asked. He jerked his head as the fire alarm sounded and a fine mist briefly clouded the room.

"The principal wanted to test his new sprinkler system," Yuki explained.

"Oh, great," growled Ranma, shaking water from her pigtail. "He did that deliberately!" The instructor nodded wearily as Ranma signalled for permission to get some hot water, then waited impatiently as a male Ranma returned to reclaim his seat.

The school room quiet was broken again when Ukyo came to class late, limping, using her battle spatula as a cane.

The instructor sought to bring order back to the furor as he said, "Class, Miss Kuonji is quite capable of walking to her seat without your chatter. Please return to your books and go to page number forty-three."

Ranma leaned toward Ukyo and whispered, "Yo, wha'happen?"

Ukyo directed a melting glance toward him. Noticing the teacher, who was watching Ranma's blatant disregard of class-room discipline with an accelerating tic in his eye, she hissed, "I'll tell you later, Ranchan!" As the instructor again prepared to render his assignment, she sat upright and faced the front of the room, entertaining visions of being comforted by her Ranchan.

-----------

"She got you, too?" Akane asked, unconsciously testing the tenderness of the purple smudge on her own face.

"Same gal, sounds like," growled Ranma. "She challenged Akane and Kodachi."

"She didn't say a word, Ranchan. She just hit me. I didn't even see her, until it was too late." Ukyo reached for the security of Ranma's strong arms, but he had prowled away from her. She continued, "I am more worried about Konatsu. He left without saying a word after he saw what had happened to me. I haven't seen him since."

"Who's next?" wondered Akane.

Ranma merely opened and closed his fists, his knuckles creaking. "Only attacks girls, eh?" he said.

"Unless she got Konatsu, too," Akane mused. "Ranma, are you thinking of doing something dumb?"

"Whaddya mean, 'dumb'?"

"You have that look in your eye."

"What look?"

"The one you get when you are going to do something stupid and maybe get yourself hurt!"

"Since when do you care if I get hurt? I am supposed to get myself hurt! That's how I learn!"

"Hummph! I couldn't have said it better, myself!"

"Yeah? And what would you suggest, huh?"

"What kind of plan is that? Go out as a girl and hope someone attacks you? I've fought this monster! She's powerful! She scared even me!" Akane stopped abruptly, put her hand over her face and moaned, "Oh, no. Now I've done it."

"Aw, what d'ya know? Stupid tomboy. I don't care if she's built like an elephant! I can beat her! She's only a girl!"

"Listen to yourself, Ranma. Whoever she is, she could take you on right now, and your girl side does not have your strength or reach."

"Ain't no girl so strong that I gotta be scared of her!" Ranma snorted. "Except maybe you, that is."

Akane stiffened. "What do you mean by that?"

Ranma appeared to actually calculate the result of two plus two and replied, "Uh, nothin'."

"I was only trying to help, and you start insulting me. And I am not a gorilla!"

"Well...I wasn't going to say that, exactly."

"That's what you usually call me! And another thing. I am not unsexy and uncute!" Akane's lower lip quivered with building rage. "I'm not!"

"Heh...one thing ya are, though."

"What is that?"

"Loud."

Akane suddenly noticed the circle of interested faces, and she turned scarlet. Grabbing Ranma, she dragged him back to class, trying to ignore smiles and laughter from observers.

HAINOKO:

"I, Hainoko, swear that Cinderella is my friend. Furthermore, I agree to become the personal servant of Deirdre and Deirdrum for one (1) year if I cannot get Cinderella to perform at the charity bazaar hosted by their mother. P.S. If Cinderella or her assigned agent does not appear immediately and agree to this, then I am a great big liar and a cheat."

"That's not fair!" cried Hainoko. "You didn't let me read all of this!"

"Too late," sneered Deirdre. "You've already signed it. You swore that Cinderella was your friend. Now, prove it!"

"Or we'll tell the teacher who really brought that Cinderella poster to school," piped Deirdrum. "She got very excited when she found it in the lockers. If we tell, you'll be in big trouble!"

"I can't help it," sniffled Hainoko. "Somebody told her where it was." She looked suspiciously at Deirdrum's smug grin.

"You think you are so special!" crowed Deirdre. "We'll see! Mother is going to be so disappointed when Cinderlla does not show up. She's going to hate you! And, you are going to have to apologize to everyone at her bazaar, because you told a lie!"

Hainoko folded the paper and hid it in her backpack, aghast. She was trapped. A whole year as personal servant to those slobs. She'd die!

She would have to ask Hiroshi to give the message to Cinderella. She would have to humble herself and be nice to him, and he hated her. What if Hiroshi refused? What if Cinderella refused? So Cinderella had come to see Hiroshi once. That did not mean they were great friends.

"Still," she sniffed, wiping her nose, "At least she came to our house. She hasn't gone to visit any one of them!"

IN A DARK ALLEY:

I tried to talk to Daisuke again, but it was no use. He was acting peculiarly. He shut the door in my face, saying that he could not face me without cold water. I said, 'Fine! I wish you'd forget about it!' It was only later that I thought about whether or not it had been a real wish.

I didn't know what he was so upset about. Several girls were hanging around his house waiting for him to come out and say 'hi.' I wasn't jealous, or anything. Why should I be?

So I went out to spread my own somber mood around. No way I was going to sit at home and brood, merely because I was stuck with an alter ego that threatened my manhood.

I sought companionship with someone I figured could identify with my problem. I was ready to confess all and tell him what had happened. However, he was not at home, so I never got the chance to discuss it. She was 'out', according to Kasumi. I found her acting preoccupied, prowling about the streets near the Cat Cafe.

"Hey, Ranma!" I said. "Why are you sneaking around like that?"

"Shhh!" she hissed, "I'm trying to catch someone!"

"Who? I don't see anything."

"Listen!"

I stopped and strained my ears, which was a strange feeling, but the sum total of my hearing was the whir of tires from a passing bicycle and a distant clatter, perhaps a stray dog knocking over a trash can.

Ranma tilted her head slightly. She must have heard something because she turned and said, "See ya." Then she left at a dead run.

I was curious. I followed, as best as I could, which was not very fast. Before I got so tired that I was gasping my lungs out I came upon Ranma again, standing in a posture of alertness outside an alley.

From within the alleyway I heard a thump, then an angry voice, "Aiyah! You think you fool Shampoo with ugly mask! You will die!" Then another thump, the rattle of a loose bonbori and a crash, followed by a groan of pain from Shampoo.

"She's getting killed!" I panted.

"Not if I can help it," Ranma muttered as she stepped away from the corner and leaped into the alley. In the darkness all I could see was Shampoo facing shadows, some of which were moving, until Ranma barreled into the middle of them. Something hit something else very hard and very fast - blows, counterblows, blocks and above it all the gasps and yells of three girls in mortal combat.

Excitement drew me closer, until, suddenly, the air was filled with howling projectiles, blowing a trash can beside me into tatters. The flurry of pointy things whining past reminded me of a fact of great import - I was a coward. I scrambled away from more flying splinters and watched the scuffling shadows from the shelter of the alley entrance.

Then I heard a sound that sent chills down my spine. Several sounds, in fact - a splash, a yowl, and Ranma's voice saying, "Ca...ca...ca..."

I did what any sensible person would have done. I ran like hell.

Somebody sped past me like I was standing still, except she did not duck around the electrical utility poles at the end of the street. She hit one dead center and knocked herself silly. I found Ranma lying flat on her back, with Shampoo nosing her face to comfort her.

I picked Shampoo up off Ranma, getting several scratches in the process, and carried her away from the spot, cautioning her to go back to the Cat Cafe. The thought occurred to me that I could probably dump some hot water on Shampoo and bring her back to human form, but since she would be unclothed and not in a very civil mood, logic and self-preservation dictated that I merely get her out of Ranma's sight. I was not going back into that alley to retrieve her clothes. Shampoo wanted to stay but she finally thought better of it and limped stiffly home.

I never did see who they had been fighting, though I saw a darker portion of the shadows move once, out of the corner of my eye. Also, I think someone followed us while I helped Ranma back to her feet. Ranma in girl form was small but solid - I did not get to carry her or even support her, and I was too scared to try to get a feel anyway. She decided that she had skulked enough and headed for the Tendo dojo, while I headed for home. I kept hearing noises, but nothing more happened.

PRACTICE STUDIO:

The next evening I went to practice with Primrose.

The Primrose Path had found an empty practice hall close to Ucchan's, somehow, and they were using it for their rehearsals. The band greeted me enthusiastically and introduced themselves - Juupooku on the bass, Sakku-chan on the sax, Guapo on the drums, and Michiro on the synthesizer. They gave me a round of applause when I took off the trench coat, but then went back to tuning their instruments and wisecracking back and forth about baseball and rollerblading.

Heaven. I was definitely in heaven. Kidori and I rehearsed songs that I know that I did not know that I knew. I heard nothing different about my voice, but for once no one cringed or turned the TV louder when I sang. Primrose seemed to glow with happiness when our voices blended, and she praised my footwork. We danced, each with our own routine, and I could dance beyond my most outragous fantasies.

Before each number, Kidori would go centerstage and do a kind of dance routine I did not recognize. I asked Guapo and she said Kidori was practicing a kata, because martial arts forms limbered her up for the dancing she had to do during a live performance. She seemed to be somewhat stiff as she moved, however.

When she finished the song which was to be the finale, Kidori reached into a pocket somewhere and tossed flower petals onto the bare floor which represented the audience. I asked her where she hid the flowers, since, like me, she had only the barest essentials of a costume...although, in all honesty, her costume had more places to hide stuff than did mine. She would not divulge her secret.

"I wish I could do something like that," I said, and I snapped thumb and forefinger. There was a -zap- and a tingle.

-poof-

A sparkling blue ribbon appeared in mid-air above the 'audience floor' and fluttered down.

"How did you do that?" she asked, wide-eyed, while Guapo retrieved the ribbon.

"It's a secret," I replied smugly, even as I searched the shadows for Ryoga. My thumb was stinging from snapping my fingers. I truly did not know where the ribbon had 'appeared' from. I had my suspicions, but how could I have a wish answered without Ryoga nearby?

"Look at this!" called Guapo. "It says, 'From Cinderella to Guapo-chan'. Can you beat that? Instant autograph!"

"Who belongs to this oinker?" Juupooku laughed, holding up a struggling black pig. "If no one claims it, I oughta invite him for lunch."

"I think that's Akane's pet," I said. "Hang onto him and I'll take him back home."

"Never mind, I couldn't hold onto him. He lit out when I mentioned 'lunch'," Juupooku said, leaning forward over his guitar. "Pop out another ribbon. I want one."

Snapping out the ribbons became easier after a little practice. Each band member got one, plus a few extra, with names I did not recognize. They assured me that the names were of friends, and not a ribbon went unclaimed. One final ribbon fluttered down, and Kidori grabbed it.

Her legs seemed to give out and she sat flat on the floor. "I don't understand," she said with a puzzled frown. "This one says 'Hiroshi loves Kidori.'"

I almost freaked out. "Throw it away!" I blurted. "I'll try to make another one!"

"No. I think I'll keep it," she said, very softly, folding the ribbon away. A tiny glimmer appeared in her eyes, and I thought I saw something like loneliness shining through, before she shook herself and called, "Okay, break time. Let's go get some food."

After I helped her to her feet, I checked the time. For once the clock was good to me. I still had over a half hour before I would have to run away from the ball.

While the band opened their bentos, Kidori and I went to Ucchan's. We went in disguise - that is, we dressed up in the latest fad - boy's clothes - which felt weird, since mine did not fit me. She borrowed some clothes from the band - Michiro's silver moon suit and space boots, since he was about the right height.

I did not explain why I happened to be carrying a pair of pants and a shirt along - let them wonder. Every time I changed to Cinderella my clothes had changed, too, but I was wary lest I get stuck as a boy wearing my blue scanty outfit. Go ahead and laugh. It has happened to Ranma.

"Oh!" Kidori exclaimed, "You look so cute in boy's clothes!"

"Heh," I blushed. "It's something in the jeans."

Our disguises got us into Ucchan's without mishap, except for a couple of sharp-eyed urchins who stopped us and demanded autographs. Primrose smiled graciously and complied, and I found myself so enraptured by her grace that I signed 'Cinderella,' without complaining, on the notepads the kids held out to us. It felt odd, suppressing the twinge of irritation, remembering that at one time I had actually wanted to be a rock star.

At Ucchan's I surprised her by holding her stool. She hesitated as she sat, easing into the chair as though in pain. "I helped move furniture last night," she explained.

Oh. That would explain the scratches on her arm, as well, I thought. Seemed perfectly logical to me. "The katas didn't help loosen you up?"

"Katas?" Her gaze was blank for a second, then she smiled, "Oh, you mean the exercises. No. Those are Mother's idea of relaxation. They really don't seem to ease the stiffness."

I looked around. "Where's Ukyo or Konatsu? They usually wait on customers by this time."

"Right here, Sugar. What'll you have?" Ukyo limped up behind the counter. Kidori jerked about at her voice, knocking over a condiment tray, scattering bottles, shakers and sauce.

"Oh, I am sorry!" cried Kidori, gazing in horror at Ukyo's scrapes and bruises, "I am so terribly, terribly sorry!"

"It's all right, Sugar," said Ukyo tiredly. "No problem. I'll get another tray."

UCCHAN'S:

At the far end of the counter, a conference of war was going on - five heads with but one thought, five hearts with but one ambition: vengeance.

"Only an uncultured barbarian would waste their strength on direct blows when a sophisticated twist would be so much more effective," Kodachi spoke, imperiously. She shifted her body into a more stylish posture, then slumped back on her stool to brood. "For that reason, I suspected this peasant Akane, because of the forceful attack the masked girl used."

Akane sat with her eyes fixed straight ahead, though the countertop she was gripping began to bend. "I thought we weren't going to get into personalities!" she said, "Or is this more of the 'revenge of the Kunos'?"

"We all got hit, and hit hard," Ranma said, for once the arbitrator. "Can ya think of anything that might help us figure out who it was? I remember seeing someone sneaking about just seconds before I went into the alley."

"And what about you?" Akane asked, "I thought you were above hitting girls!"

"I didn't exactly hit anyone," Ranma replied stiffly, setting aside his third okonomyaki only half-eaten. "I blocked."

"Airen block very good," Shampoo added with a smirk. "Shampoo have scar to prove it, from time we fight. Macho girl want to see?"

"Keep your clothes on, Hot Stuff," Ukyo ordered. "Let's concentrate on the problem at hand."

"Well, I believe you, Ranma-sama," purred Kodachi.

"Since when do I gotta defend myself?" demanded Ranma. "We got ourselves a problem!"

"Shampoo puzzled," the purple-haired girl said, "Why mask girl attack spatula girl without warning, but challenge rest of us?"

Ukyo shook her head. "She never said a word," she said. "I also remember seeing someone skulking about in the shadows. When I stepped out the door to investigate, I was hit from another direction. Then I saw that hideous mask. Afterwards, I found flower petals scattered about." She propped her chin on her hand and frowned in reflection.

"What sort of flowers are these?" Akane asked, "I didn't even notice them until Nabiki pointed them out."

Kodachi fingered the petals disdainfully. "Common field flowers. I would not even allow them into my yard. The tramp is an uncultured boor."

Ukyo lifted her head to growl, "All you grow are black roses, Kuno. What would you know?"

Kodachi laughed, which made everyone shift uneasily, then she said, "I chortle at your ignorance! I know all about flowers, Merchant. This is cowslip, an ugly plant which grows wild in the fields or alongside the road. Another name for it is the European Primrose."

Ranma's eyes shot wide open. "What did you say?" he yelped.

"Primrose?" Akane answered.

"But she's..." Ukyo began, and five heads turned toward the far end of the room, where Kidori and Cinderella were attacking their respective dishes, as they liked them.

End: Chapter Five


	6. Reassurances Not

Disclaimer: Jell-O is a food substance produced by Kraft Foods. Also, no gerbils were harmed in the writing of this fanfic. Their trade union, however, is negotiating more screen time and a contract may be hammered out at any time.

ASHES - A Cinderella Story

Chapter Six - Reassurances (Not)

What a tangled web we weave  
When we practice to deceive  
Let us waltz and let us trip  
Chapter Six is gonna rip.

TEMPLE OF THE GOOD DEED:

"Basho." A voice.

In the great void, existence sundered and became two: dark and light, black and white, good and evil, substance and naught. The extremities twained yet again, and again, until there were objects, color, sound, and sensation. Ages fled as life formed in pools and pushed their way onto land, evolving in microseconds into multicellular creatures that plunged through the ocean, roamed the earth, and climbed the trees. One such multi-celled creature blinked and became a gray monk within a single stone cell.

"Basho.o.o.o..."

Not again -

"Basho!"

I am so close. I can feel the ultimate truth lying within my grasp, like...like...like holding Jell-O in my hands while wading in the ocean. If I answer, Sensei will distract me from my goal. If I do not answer, Sensei will distract me from my goal. -sigh- Decisions, decisions.

"Basho! Wake up, you lazy snot!"

Wait. That does not sound like Sensei. Would Sensei call me a lazy snot? Yep.

-whap!-

Would Sensei slap me about and cause me pain? Yep.

"Oh, Basho, Sweetie! Please wake up!"

That is not Sensei. "Who are you?"

"Good! You are awake. It's about time!"

"I repeat my question. Who are you?" Basho opened his eyes and immediately closed them, tightly. I don't need this. Another woman. Why must I face these temptations when my goal is so near?

"My name is Mara, fat lot of good it will do you. Why aren't you out granting wishes?"

Basho opened one eye a crack. Enough to see that the woman was attractive in a devilish sort of way. Demoness. Good. Made it easier to ignore her.

-whap!-

Or maybe not...

"What do you want?" he complained, "I am busy!"

"I can see that! But you can't grant wishes in this cell!"

"I had no such intention. I have called for a substitute to handle those duties."

"Someone else has the power?"

"Of course!" snorted Basho, "A lovely person. As sweet and gentle as a summer breeze. Very qualified." He managed to restrain a self-satisfied chuckle.

"Drat! She brought in a real fairy god-mother! No wonder I could not find her!"

"And now, if you do not mind, I have thirty-nine modulations to go. After that, I will be happy to talk to you."

"Never mind, fat boy. You have answered my question. A substitute, huh? How did she get that clever?"

HIROSHI:

"What did you say?"

"Primrose?"

"But she's..."

It happened so suddenly that I dropped the slice of octopus okonomyaki I had been wolfing down. I was planning on heading for the exit in less than a minute, since my time was about to run out, when suddenly, I found I could not leave.

On the other side of the okonomyaki shop, a cluster of people had stopped talking and turned toward Kidori and me. I heard Kodachi shout, "That is the villainess! I would recognize that drab hairdo anywhere!" Five people stood up and started toward us.

A freaky thing happened to me. Everything slowed down, and my mind went into overdrive. To my heightened senses, each of the five was bathed in a blazing color. Akane's flames were pale blue. Somehow the yellow-white fires surrounding both Ranma and Ukyo seemed less threatening, so I concentrated my attention on Kodachi and Shampoo, who were both glowing a dangerous red.

They attacked simultaneously. Shampoo charged directly at Kidori while Kodachi sprang to the side and loosed a barrage of gymnast clubs, followed by a snaking streamer of razor ribbon, none of which Kidori was attempting to dodge. The sinuous coils of the razor ribbon flowed toward her like a monstrous snake, snipping through hanging lamps, banners, and a hapless potted plant.

I stood from my stool, fascinated by the violence about to occur. As the half dozen gymnast clubs tumbled toward us, something clicked inside of me. There was no uncertainty, no doubt in my mind. I was moving before I knew, yanking loose a section of the counter top and tossing it into the path of the clubs. The clubs, deflected, clattered to the floor. I then spun a couple of the stools into the air to tangle the ribbon.

I am not sure how I did what I did to Shampoo - I stepped between her and Kidori, and when she tried to get past me, I shoved her. She flew backward against the wall and slid down to the floor, blinking until her eyes uncrossed.

Kodachi sent more clubs, this time directed at me, and I swatted them away reflexively. She finally got the message - that I was knocking away anything she threw - stared at me in surprise, and backed off.

All five of them backed off, as shocked as if a serpent had appeared in their midst. I was shocked, myself, but determined to stand between them and Kidori.

"What manner of insolent creature are you, protecting this wretched villain?" Kodachi demanded.

"Cinderella!" cried Akane, "You are going to get hurt!"

There was a look in Ranma's eye that I never thought I would have directed at me - he was trying to evaluate my weaknesses and my strengths. As a martial artist. He was not attacking, but if he did he would be very dangerous. Dangerous? He could kill me! I did not have the faintest idea what I was doing, or how I did it!

The little voice in my head was murmuring something about Kidori. Why were they trying to hurt her? What had she done to them? And at the same time, I knew what they were accusing her of doing. They thought she was beating them up. But to do that, she would have to be a better martial artist than they were.

The little voice said, When I made my wish, I asked to look better and have more talent than the greatest rock singer. Modesty aside, she is cute, and she says I look better. She sings wonderfully, and the band members claim I sing a little better. She dances divinely and I held my own with her.

I just waxed Shampoo and bested Kodachi without even trying. How good a martial artist was Kidori? And could she have actually attacked them?

I wanted to believe that she was innocent. One look at her, cringing away from the hostile glares of her accusers, and I wanted very much to hear her say that they were wrong.

"Tell them!" I cried to her. "Tell them you didn't do it!"

She would not say anything, just hung her head and tried to withdraw behind me.

Another thought was nagging me. My two hours were up. In a few seconds I was going to revert to plain old Hiroshi and two things were going to happen: My shameful secret was going to be exposed, and Kodachi and Shampoo were going to make sushi out of me. Then they would turn on Kidori.

"Hold it right there!" I cried, "Ah! I...I have to...I'm going to..."

I did not know what I was going to do. So I did what always worked before. I ran. I ran, lean lithe legs pumping, not for the front door, but for the back of the building, where I had seen a storeroom door. There was a shadowy blur in my way, another kid holding out a paper for an autograph. The little kid seemed familiar, but I was in a panic - autographs could wait. I bolted into the tiny room and slammed the door before I 'poofed' back into myself. I barely made it. My school shirt and pants rematerialized over my 'disguise', uncomfortably tight until I could hurriedly remove the extra clothes.

HAINOKO:

Cinderella brushed past, in a terrible hurry to get to the restroom or some other place, so Hainoko decided that it was not a good time to give her the letter from the twin's mother. Celebrities were terribly busy people, and when they went to the restroom they didn't want to be pestered. And everyone shoves little kids aside when they get in the way. Hainoko sorrowfully zipped the messages back into her bookbag and prepared to leave Ucchan's.

A sound called her back, a voice from within the restroom. "I want to be a rock star! I want to be a rock star! Why isn't it working? How long must I wait? I can't wait!"

Hainoko returned to the door and listened, saying to herself, "Hiroshi?"

The door flew open and Hiroshi rushed past her, going back into the dining room. Examining the vacated room, Hainoko found it empty except for a shirt and a pair of school trousers. She identified them as Hiroshi's, picked them up and started again to go home, her steps slow and thoughtful.

HIROSHI:

Kidori remained at the counter, still seated and, as far as I could tell, terrified by the martial artists menacing her.

They were surrounding her by the time I got back; Ranma was looking nervous, as though things were not going according to plan and he was not sure about how to handle it; Ukyo was holding back, also uncertain; Akane was glancing about as if looking for someone; Kodachi and Shampoo had reorganized and were closing in for the kill, while all the time Kidori sat there with a woeful expression and tears in her eyes.

Okay, so I did something stupid. I pushed in front of Kidori, using my body as a shield, all the time yelling at them to stop.

Baka. Bakbakabakabakabaka.

After a few moments where I had not been reduced to a bloody pulp, I opened my eyes. Shampoo glared over my shoulder at Kidori; Kodachi stood back, still dangerous, evaluating me as if I were a side of beef about to be quartered and she was contemplating the first cut.

"Stop! Please!" I cried. "You don't know what you're doing!" Relief flooded over me. No one was jibing me for being a cross-dresser, and so far I still had all my body parts.

"Hold it, fellas," Ranma said, to Shampoo and Kodachi. "This ain't no place for vendettas. No matter how much she deserves it."

"Shampoo show you vendetta! Shampoo give Amazon kiss of Death to masked monster girl!" I tried to stop her advance, but this time she was too strong.

"Do not defend this creature!" Kodachi commanded, "She is the essence of evil! She strikes unmercifully, with tremendous force and precision!"

"Wait!" I cried, having finally remembered a discrepancy which had been bugging me, "If she is so strong and hits so hard, why would she stoop to throwing darts? She wouldn't need that kind of weapon!"

"Darts?" Ranma remained angry, but at least he stopped to think. "I don't remember any darts!"

"It was last night. You probably dodged them automatically and forgot it when you saw...er...something to distract you." Credit me with some sense. If I had said 'cat', Ranma would have reacted badly. I needed him rational, at the moment.

I continued, "I was outside that alley when you went after Shampoo's attacker. Somebody threw some darts or ninja throwing stars, and they tore hell out of a trashcan. Shampoo was there! She saw them!"

"The harridan had an accomplice?" suggested Kodachi.

"Look at her!" I cried, pointing to the cowering Kidori, "She's frightened! Does that look like some kind of monster?"

"Maybe need mask to make brave," said Shampoo, but she, too, was having doubts. Her lips, centimeters away from planting the Kiss of Death on Kidori's face, were beginning to droop in a disappointed pout.

"Okay, Hiroshi," Ukyo said. "You made your point. I didn't want to believe it, anyway."

I could not describe the look Kidori gave me - it was wide-eyed fear, disgust, horror at being attacked, I didn't know. When I tried to get a closer look at her face, she turned away from me. I kept thinking that maybe she had fathomed my secret and she was ashamed to be seen with me. Surely she had noticed that the clothes I was wearing were almost identical to the 'disguise' Cinderella wore.

What mattered was that the others had lost their battle glow. They weren't ready to hack and thrash Kidori into a bloody heap, and I was not going to lose her.

Ranma's arm landed on my shoulders. "Old buddy," he said, "I know ya like the gal and all, but that was either very brave or very stupid."

"Brave," I suggested, as I tried to sit down. My hands were shaking so badly I knocked the stool over.

"Yeah," Ranma said, as if he believed me. There was an edge to his voice and his eyes were filled with unease, as though he were thinking dark thoughts. I regretted not telling him my secret, for now things had gotten too complicated.

"Still - " he went on, forcing a pleasant face, "thanks to you and that gal, those two had a chance to cool down before they hurt somebody. Where'd she go, anyway?"

"I saw her head out the back way," Ukyo said. She patted Kidori on the arm and said, "Sorry, Sugar. I guess we jumped the gun. I'm tired and cranky with my hired help missing."

"Oh!" cried Kidori, rousing from her fearful apathy, "Let me help! I am good at cleaning!"

"Yeah, so was Konatsu, before he left," Ukyo muttered.

They straightened the mess and cleaned up. I knew it was time for me to leave when Kidori moved me aside like a piece of furniture in order to stack chairs. She wouldn't even look up at my face. I was Hiroshi, not Cinderella. I was nobody.

HAINOKO:

Mommy was taking a nap when Hainoko got home. After putting away her school books and papers, Hainoko fingered the message for Cinderella. Maybe she could try again, tomorrow. Maybe Cinderella would come back for a visit with...

Memories made her face contort in thought, of the room with one door, where one person went in and another person came out, and she thought, No. This is one of those imaginary things that teachers try to get you to forget. This is one of those daydreams, where something wonderful happens and you get to meet interesting people who know you and like you, but it isn't really true.

She sighed. Somehow, there was an explanation. Dumb, dull, big brother Hiroshi? Just how well did he know Cinderella? Were they really such good friends that they could both hide in the same room together? That had to be it. Yet, if he was such good friends with Cinderella, who was this girl he was protecting at Ucchan's? Hainoko knew the reputations of the martial artists at Furinkan High, and she had never before seen Hiroshi risk their anger.

She found her old hiding place, a dark corner of the hallway where the ancestral cabinet was ensconced, there being no space in the rest of the apartment to store it. It made a wonderful place to sit and brood, away from Mommy's constant cleaning and with a good view of the front room where the TV stood. She could watch shows she was not supposed to watch, and had fallen asleep there several times.

She was there an hour later when Hiroshi returned, slumped with resignation. That girl must have turned him down. The other girls at his school are always turning him down. They know a loser when they see one.

In addition to having an eye to the living room, Hainoko's spot had an ear to Hiroshi's room. She had never used it before. Well, maybe once or twice to be certain he was out before she went into his room for raids. But she had never used it to spy on him. Not intentionally. This time she held her ear to the thin wall and heard Hiroshi's muttering.

"Why doesn't it work? Any other time, it would have 'poofed' me when I didn't want to do it. Now, when I want to, it does not work!" He chanted a phrase, almost like a mantra, "I want to be a rock star. I want to be a rock star!"

Hainoko lost a few words when he went into the hallway, then his voice got louder and she realized that he was standing beside her hiding place. Holding her breath to keep from revealing herself, she leaned forward to watch and listen.

"It has been two hours since Ucchan's! How long do I have to wait? I want to be a rock star! I wannabearockstar! I wannabe..."

Hainoko clapped her hands over her mouth to cover her gasp. She was watching through the crack in the cabinet door, so there could be no doubt as to what she saw. There could be no doubt as to what she heard, for Hiroshi's voice suddenly climbed the scale into a soft soprano, even as he shrank into a more shapely size. His black and white school uniform became a brilliant blue minidress.

"Yes!" cried Cinderella, and she pulled on blue pumps that were suddenly at the stoop and hurried out the door, leaving it standing open. If she had looked back, she would have seen a younger sister standing on the stairs, eyes wide open and jaw gaping.

HAINOKO:

There was a bird's nest in the tree outside the back window of the apartment, near Hainoko's room. In the nest were two blue mottled eggs, almost purple in the afternoon sun. Hainoko finally realized that she had been staring at them for many minutes, her jaw slack, while she tried to make the pieces of her world fit back together again.

Hiroshi, her older, arrogant, self-centered brother, protecting some girl dressed in boy's clothes? He was really worried about her, and she acted as if she did not know who he was. But... Hiroshi? Brave? But that was not the central point of her agitation.

"Hiroshi..." she said softly, "...Cinderella?"

Already, the memory of her ornery brother vanishing and Cinderella appearing was at war with her concept of reality, and she was wondering if it could have been something she simply wanted to happen.

She roused when she heard her mother call.

"Mommy?" she answered. The weakness in her mother's voice frightened her. "Mommy!"

TEMPLE OF THE GOOD DEED:

"Basho."

Again?

"Basho!"

Maybe if I say nothing she will go away.

"BASHO!"

-whimper-

"Oh, good! You are awake."

Basho grumped to himself. Another woman. Do I deserve this? Twenty-four modulations to go...

Awareness dawned and Basho ossified in great fear. Oh, no. The platinum-haired goddess. She has come to punish me for evading my duty. I am in deep trouble.

"No, you are not in trouble...yet," the platinum-haired goddess cooed at him. "I can be very forgiving. I have another job for you. And there will be no substitutions, this time."

I am being ordered about, like a common drudge. That is bad. By a beautiful goddess. That is normally good, but at the moment, it is very bad. I must maintain the gestalt presence which I have developed through months of intense discipline. I stand in the ebb of the ocean, holding a handful of Jell-O as the tide surges about me, holding the truth inconsistent while it neither attempts to remain or flee, it simply IS, and the water of which it is constructed flows unrestrained through my mind, held only by my concentration from disintegrating. I must maintain that focus. I will not look upon the beautiful woman who is ordering me around like a common drudge. I will not look...

Basho looked.

...ah, well. Even common drudges are entitled to a few pleasures, I suppose.

"I have a task for you. It will not be easy - it will be like finding a needle in a haystack." The goddess's smile was fixed, much like the predatory gleam of a wolf about to attack. It was not a kind smile.

Basho released his hold upon his focus. He sighed with disappointment as the image blurred into mundane reality.

"Looking for a needle in a heap of straw is simple," he said. "You do not find the needle. It finds you."

HIROSHI:

I had worked hard, changing to Cinderella, but the effort was wasted. Kidori was not at Ucchan's. Ukyo said that she had gone somewhere on an engagement, so I was left with an hour or so to kill before my spell wore off. I spent most of it listening to Ukyo.

The band members of the Primrose Path had found Ucchan's, and had landed in force. Despite their previous bento meal they were ravenous, and had consumed enough okonomyaki to make Ukyo richer and tireder. She poured me a tea, pulled up a chair, and proceeded to bend my ear about the gossip she had heard.

Once upon a time, as a group, the Primrose Path had been doing poorly. This was due to their former lackadaisical manager and the engagements he kept getting for them at ratty, run-down establishments.

Then Kidori's mother had taken over their management, dropped a couple of members and added a couple, and had brought them, along with Kidori, into the limelight. She was a maverick manager, shunning most agencies, and she was ruthless when it came to scheduling her group.

Oddly, whenever Primrose was booked to open for a particularly good group, the other band would encounter some kind of trouble and not be able to show up, which gave Primrose more exposure and led to more fame.

Kidori refused to talk about her mother, and the band members got a haunted look in their eyes whenever they discussed her. Her mother chose to remain out of sight, ruling the public appearances but not interfering with their normal lives.

"You're Kidori's friend, aren't you?" Ukyo asked.

"Well, yes. Sorta. I hope."

"You need to talk to her. That poor kid. She needs all the friends she can get."

"But why? She's a famous rock star! How could I help?"

"You're no small potatoes, yourself, Sugar. Although, I'll admit I haven't heard much of you, before. How do you get away with it?"

"Err...get away with what?"

"Being so humble and modest and shy. You should have groupies and bodyguards and fans howling around you all the time. Yet, here you are, chatting around my shop like an old chum."

"Oops! Speaking of the time, I gotta go!"

She laughed, "What's the matter, Sport? Are you goin' to turn into a pumpkin, or something?"

"You would not believe," I assured her. But then, on the other hand, this being Nerima, she might...

End: Chapter Six


	7. Don't Look Back

Disclaimer: No gerbils were harmed in the writing of this fanfic, although several might have been traumatized by seeing Cinderella's outfit.

ASHES - A Cinderella Story

Chapter Seven - Don't Look Back

Threads of laughter, threads of joy  
Spun with tears by girl and boy  
Let us climb the stairway to heaven  
As we trot out Chapter Seven.

BASHO:

It is simple. Take the least likely of all probabilities, decide where is the most unlikely place for an event to take place, and then take a random walk. Not entirely reliable, which makes it so effective.

Basho seated himself on the curb and inhaled. The odors of grease sizzling on an okonomyaki grill, noodles in deep fat, peppers and squash joining in a vegetable medley along with sausage, beef and chicken and warm bread, drifted from the food carts across the street. He set a bag full of their products beside him and made himself comfortable. This might take a long time.

Now, to consider. I am wading in the ocean, holding the gelatinous food substance in my hands, feeling the currents moving the Ultimate Truth into being. On another level, Basho recalled that Sensei had mentioned a scroll which contained the one true revelation of the Temple of the Good Deed. Perhaps Sensei would let him take a look at it? If he approached Sensei respectfully, and asked politely, he might. And then again, he might not. Sensei was a volatile, changeable person.

Truth has a texture. Truth has a moment of being, an eternity which lasts only a split-second, yet which rings with a vibration all its own. I can feel the nuances of that vibration. It burrs at my fingertips as I move them through the mold of the gel, it sings in my ears as I draw ever nearer, and nearer, and I can almost feel it! It is...it is...

"Baka! Why can't you stay away from me? You have caused me nothing but trouble! Because of you I have known more humiliation than I have ever had to endure!"

Basho stifled a sob of grief. I have failed. And I have succeeded. Which is more important? Does it matter?

Hiroshi had his back to Ryoga, arms folded, jaw clenched. "What about me?" he demanded, "I have been embarrassed, chased, fondled, and ogled. I have endured hardship, too, you know! Besides, you are the one who is always running off!"

"Well, you would run, too, if you were being chased by some kind of spook!" Ryoga said, pacing restlessly back and forth, "Every time I say the wrong thing, or someone makes a wish around me, I feel this 'thing' appear!"

"Ahem," Basho said, from their side. He was solidly ignored.

Ryoga continued, "All I want is to stop somewhere and rest. Yet, if I only say the word, 'wish', something happens!"

As if to prove his point, the limbs of the tree he was under began to move. They enfolded him while roots pulled themselves loose from the ground to wrap about his ankles.

Hiroshi froze where he stood. While he had become accustomed to odd sights, the creeping tree was a little too much.

Before Ryoga could rip the enfolding limbs from him, Basho stepped up from the curb, withdrew a slip of paper from his satchel, scratched a rune onto it with an aged bamboo pen, and slapped the paper onto the tree trunk. Instantly the branches released Ryoga and collapsed back into their former positions.

"What was that?" demanded Hiroshi, "That tree moved!"

"Tree spirit, under the command of a demoness," explained Basho. "Simple to take care of, if you know what you are doing."

"This is what I have to endure!" Ryoga said, then to Basho, "I don't know how it happened, but I think you had something to do with it!"

The monk shook his head. "Many times you have irritated me. I would say that you are a burden upon my soul and a trial to my spirit, but I am forced to admit a responsibility. Therefore I will try to help you as much as I can, but you must learn to keep your mouth shut about your task. You know who commands this."

"You are the one provoking me!" Ryoga responded. He was brushing at his arms and legs, as if he could still feel the branches and roots imprisoning him. He added reluctantly. "But, since you helped me, thank you."

"Who are you?" Hiroshi asked of Basho.

"A humble student, like you, striving to find truth in a world that is much, much too busy."

"He knows about the..." Ryoga said.

"He knows about the...?"

"Yes."

"He knows you can...?"

"Yes."

"And about her?"

"No, not that."

"How much does he know?"

"That I can...even though I don't want to...and he has a...still going on right now."

"What?" Hiroshi stood between them, head snapping back and forth, following their conversation.

"Then he can..."

"No."

"Does he..."

"Yes."

"What are you guys talking about?" Hiroshi demanded.

"You'll have to read the manual," said Ryoga, and he departed for Tokyo via Hokkaido.

Hiroshi was hot on his heels, determined to have some answers.

BASHO:

Basho was digging into the bag for another sweet bun when a dark cloud -whoomped- into existence in the street before him. Mara stepped from the concealment of the dissipating vapors and faced him.

"Where is she?" demanded the demoness, "Where is that sweet, sickeningly nice do-gooder of a fairy god-mother?"

There was a sesame seed cemented to his cheek in a honeyed paste. Basho caught it with a fingertip and delivered it into his mouth before he stood and spoke.

"I cannot allow you to harass my charge," he said.

"Me? Harass? Oh, you haven't seen harassment, yet!"

Basho flipped the remainder of his bun into the bag and deposited it at his feet. "Therefore, I must stop you before something bad happens!" he said.

He began scribbling the powerful glyphs of goodness that he had learned at the Temple of the Good Deed into the air. "I call upon the forces of goodness and light! You will transform! You must turn into a good person!" A marshmallow cloud appeared above the demoness.

-whump-

"Arrgh!" screeched Mara as her hair changed from blond curls to stiff gray and her face withered into a hideous old woman. "I am a demoness, you idiot!" she screeched, "I am allergic to good!"

"Oops," Basho mumbled contritely. "Heh. Sorry about that!" He edged away from the furious hag who had began to glow a dull, angry red.

"It will take me all day to get this ick off me!" rasped the hag's voice. "Let me encourage you to re-appraise your abilities! You are not yet ready to take on even a demoness second class!" She snickered menacingly and gestured, and Basho found himself snared in a vat of rancid honey. "Eat your way out of that!"

Mired in the sticky goo, Basho mourned, "I am never going to be a do-gooder until I finish the modulations and achieve the right to read the Temple's most treasured scroll!"

"Little prints of niceness all over the place! She left a trail a blind imp could follow," said the hag. "I will catch her and make her my slave! I can use a few wishes, myself!"

"I will stop you!" cried Basho, but his pursuit was a sticky crawl.

HIROSHI:

I never meant to find out Ryoga's secret. It just happened. One minute I was following him through the park, absolutely no one around except him and me. Then the sprinklers came on, and there was only me. Oh. Me and this little black pig, who happened to have a yellow bandana exactly like Ryoga's, and a charm bracelet around his neck. That is how I found out.

"Wow," I shook my head. "Bummer. Double plus ungood, old chum."

"Buee?"

"Yeah. I suppose you got it the same place that Ranma got his?"

"Buee."

"Man, that's terrible," I said, in sympathy. "I mean, you are one ugly pig. Why couldn't you change into a beautiful babe like Ranma?"

"Buee!" Ryoga-pig was trying to get to his charm bracelet, which was not easy since it was around his neck.

"Let me see that," I said, removing it and holding it in front of him. "Is this what you want?"

"Buee." He seemed to be reading something on one of the plates of the bracelet. Looked like shiny metal to me. "Buee!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Buee! Buee!"

"Are you trying to tell me something? Squeal once for yes and twice for no." I once saw this movie from America, about a dog with long brown and white hair, and the dog had tried to tell his master that someone was trapped in the mine and the only way he could make his master understand was to bark.

"Buee!" Ryoga-pig also stomped his feet, to emphasize his point. On top of my head. Ouch. Maybe he hadn't seen the same movie.

"Stop that!" I cried. "Look! If you are like Ranma, all we need to do is find you some hot water. There should be some water up ahead."

He took off, going the wrong direction, frantically squealing. I could not keep up with him.

I could not understand at all. It was plain that I would never be able to communicate with him until I could change him back, and he was determined to go away from the hot water. If only I could catch up and find out what was bothering him. A light came on, a blinding flash of insight.

I blinked and moved away from the street lamp which had switched itself on early.

"I want to be a rock star," I said. Might as well get it over with. Anyway, I had other powers while I was a 'rock star'. I glanced down at my scant clothes and was glad that the park was empty. Then, I set out to catch Ryoga and find out why he was so frantic.

The trees in the park were perfectly normal, so Ryoga could not have been worried about them coming to life and grabbing him. He darted for a fence, ignoring the standard entrance. I bounded after him, almost snagging his bandana as he jumped the stone wall. I was puzzled. He passed shops that would have had kettles of hot water ready to pour.

"What are you running for?" I asked, winded and irritated. He only looked back and redoubled his speed. Another light came on, but I dodged it. He wasn't running to something. He was running from something. Another light. He was not running from me.

I looked behind me. A gruesome hag was hot on my heels.

The sight frightened me so much I forgot that I had magical martial arts skills. All I could think to do was run, and run I did. As I passed Ryoga, I called back to him, "What are you waiting for?" He merely lowered his head and ran faster.

We entered the marketplace, a maze of interwoven streets and alleys with booths, stalls, okonomyaki stands on the side surrounded by tiny tables and stools, flower vendors, grocery and garden shops, meat vendors (which Ryoga avoided), and many, many, avenues of escape. She would never get us there. I motioned to Ryoga to head down the main courseway, then we cut right.

She was waiting for us. We 'yeeped' and headed back the other way, pelting down the stone pathway into another alley. Again, we were too late.

At last I remembered my strengths. I decided to confront her. She was only an old lady, but she scared the stuffing out of me. I faced her directly and demanded, "What do you want?"

She pointed at the charm bracelet I had taken from Ryoga and cackled. "I want that, Dearie!"

"No way!" I shouted. I batted her hand away, and it was like hitting a steel bar. She was very strong. I jabbed at her hideous beak of a nose, and my blow was blocked. She was very fast. My stomach rolled. She was also very ugly.

"You'll give it to me!" she shrieked, "You'll give it to me, or..."

"Or what?"

For answer, she turned her gaze to Ryoga. With eyes like steel marbles she said, "Why, I'll cook your pet pig, here!"

Ryoga-pig gulped and ran. It was an excellent demonstration of the action one should take when faced with a powerful, implacable, not to mention ugly foe. I did likewise.

Again, she was hot on our heels. No matter which alley we took, no matter how we twisted and turned, she was right behind us. At last, we had to stop, trapped in a dead-end. We were cornered, brick walls on three sides.

She occupied the entire width of the alleyway, her tattered cloak spreading stiff and razor sharp so we could not get past her, no more winded than if she had taken an evening stroll.

Smiling evilly, she clasped her clawed hands and cackled, "Now I have you, my pretty! And your little pig, too!"

TOO GLOAT:

"I wish this had never happened!" I called out, and the tableau froze expectantly. Nothing happened, hard and fast, and it went on not happening. I gulped.

The witch lady glanced about and rasped a cackle, "You can't wish for yourself, Dearie! That only works for the person you give the wish to!"

"Drat!" I said. I was sure that Ryoga granted wishes. Where could I have gone wrong?

"Now, give me the little trinket, and we'll call the whole thing off. I won't have to reduce you to your component molecules, and you won't have to spend years in some beaker in my laboratory." She smacked her lips. "And, oh, yes. Maybe I'll turn your pet loose...IN A RESTAURANT!"

Her icy gaze speared me and I tried to shake it off. Attacking her seemed insane...it had not worked before. Still, I had to give it a try. I jumped toward her, aiming a kick at her face. She cackled again and easily caught me by the heel, holding me upside down.

But while she was distracted, Ryoga made a flying leap that almost took my hand off, grabbing the bracelet. The hag dropped me on my head and snatched at him, but he evaded her.

Ryoga bounced off the bricks into a corner. He then shoved his snout through the wrist-band of the bracelet, which expanded to fit his neck. To me, he said, "Buee!"

"What?" I said, climbing to my feet.

"Buee! Buee!"

"One for yes, two for..."

"Buee!"

"You're wasting my time with your trained pig routine!" snapped the old hag. She suddenly widened her eyes, "You're...hold it! You're not the agent! He is!"

"Buee!" said Ryoga smugly, looking at me with expectation.

"But if he's the wish-pig..." she sputtered, and as Ryoga flashed a very indignant frown - for a pig, that is - she pointed at me, "...then what does that make you?"

I grinned hugely, saying, "I'm guessing it makes me one dangerous son of a...wait, that's not right...it makes me...anyway, you're in trouble!"

The hag was wasting no more time talking. She was readying a spell, judging from the putrid green clouds appearing about her hands, so I hurriedly added, "Iwishyouwouldgoawayandleavemealone!"

"You haven't seen the last of me!" she shrieked as she melted into a puddle. "Who'd have thought you would use a pig? Urd, Urd, you baka! Your spells have never worked..."

-poof-

"We beat her!" I was so happy, I did a victory dance. I grabbed Ryoga and hugged him to me in glee. Then I noticed that he was struggling to get away, his eyes glazing over. He was aware of something I had forgotten in my joy. I was still shifted, and I was holding him tight against my...I had forgotten that Cinderella had very prominent...my chest was fuller than I was accustomed to, and...

"Aw, gross," I hissed and dropped Ryoga before he nosebled all over my dress.

He staggered to his feet and turned to stare at the mouth of the alley. I whipped around, expecting to see another foe, but what I saw was shopowners and vendors. Angry shopowners, whose stalls we had run through.

"Ohboy. I hope they're fans," I said, but Ryoga merely grunted.

It turned out okay, though. I did a song and dance routine, the shop owners applauded, and we walked away. We walked fast, because one baker kept hinting that we could help him replenish his supply of pork buns.

HIROSHI:

I walked home slowly, kicking at stones and feeling melancholy. After talking to Ryoga and seeing that tree come alive and go after him, and then getting chased by an old witch, I was also feeling a little nervous. What else could go wrong?

Mom was not home. Nor was Pops, or Hainoko. There was a note on the table, in Mom's handwriting but weak and trembling, "Clinic. Hurry."

I ran.

Pops was in talking to the doctor when I got there. They did not know I was there. The doc shook his head and counted tiles on the floor while Pops ranted, "Are you sure? But she's only...at her age? Why her?"

Again, the doc shook his head. He was not smiling. "You will have to consider the other children," he said. "They need to be told."

"Have you forgotten?" Pops cried, "What if it finds out?"

"Then you'll have to - " the doctor began.

I burst into the room and watched the doctor slap a porcelain smile onto his face. "Where's Mom?" I asked, and the doctor began to tell me how she was all right, she had only suffered a bad cold, and she would be up and about in no time, and she was in such good health. All the time I could see in his eyes that he was not telling me everything.

His nurse came in and I could see Mom lying on a bed in the other room, so I pushed my way to her side.

"She's been sedated," the doctor said. He hurried me away from the bedside, saying, "She nearly collapsed because she has not been eating right, but she is fine, now." I was shuttled outside before I could think of any argument, and Pops sent me home with conflict brewing in his eyes. He wanted to say something, but he would not.

Hainoko wanted to stay at the clinic, and I had to drag her home bodily. Even when I fixed her some dried cereal she cried and moaned, "I want to see Mommy!" She shied away from my grasp and whimpered, "She's dying! I wannaseemymommy!".

"I told you, she's only got a bad cold. She does not want you to catch it, so you can't go in to see her," I said. Maybe I was trying too hard to be positive, remembering the doctor's expression. Mom was all right. Everything was fine. Wasn't it?

I decided maybe also I was being too hard on the little brat. "Listen to me. If you want, I'll take you back to the clinic. You can stand at the door and wave at her. You'll see. She is fine, she just needs some rest."

"I don't want to wave at her! How do I know that is really her? That's somebody pretending to be Mommy so I don't know she's dying!"

"Who else could it be? What's the matter with you, Packrat?"

"Don't call me that! You know I don't like it! I want to be with Mommy!"

"Well, you can't. Go play with Yoriko." It was only later that I remembered that Yoriko and her family had gone on vacation, and that meant Hainoko could be roaming around anywhere.

She sniffed back tears as she left, probably heading for the playground. From the doorway, she shouted, "You don't care! You don't care what I want!"

I sighed as calm settled over the apartment. She's such a snotty little twerp. Where did she get the idea that Mom could be someone else? While she was out of the apartment, I used the opportunity to snoop in her room, looking for my Cinderella poster that she had taken.

Then I got a shock. Among the mound of trinkets and personal items on her dresser was a paper, and it started, "I, Hainoko, swear that Cinderella is my friend."

I let out a groan, "Packrat, what have you gotten yourself into?"

My little sister had been going around, bragging to everyone that she knew Cinderella! Well, in a way, she did. But she had no right to make promises like this! I read farther, my heart sinking. Personal servant? Impossible! And they expected me to sing at their mother's bazaar? "Packrat," I added, "what have you gotten ME into?"

I could take the stress of performing in front of a huge audience, though it was exhausting work. They were always at a distance. There was a fog of unreality between me and the screaming fans, and they could not touch me. I was an actor in a costume. I could dress like a girl and be applauded, even if it offended my sensibilities. That was show biz.

Charity benefits meant small, close, intimate meetings. One on one with fans scared me, because they expected me to be what I looked like, and I refused to degrade myself by acting like a girl.

Now this. Great. Just great. I would simply go down and tell them to forget it, except then I'd have to explain how I, too, knew Cinderella. I could go to them as Cinderella, but then I'd have to explain why I was refusing to perform at a charity, without sounding stuckup and arrogant.

My head throbbed as I rested it in my hands, trying to think of a way out. I did not want to have to face these people!

NABIKI:

"She's called the 'Cinderella Singer', because she vanished at precisely midnight the first time she sang," Satchiko said as she slid the cassette into the VCR. "No one knows who she is, where she came from, or where she goes. Here is a video of her running into a crowd just before she disappeared. She never came out."

Nabiki watched the video, slowing and pausing it as the scene played out, Cinderella merged into the crowd, and then the crowd dispersed to reveal only a few students. She tapped her teeth with a pencil eraser as she thought, rewound the tape, and zoomed the image. Eventually, she pushed back her chair. "That's great, Satchiko," she said, "Good stuff, here. Excellent detail."

"Thanks, Nab-san. Always glad to help a business colleague," Satchiko said as she reloaded the camera. "Any idea what the school assembly tomorrow afternoon is about?"

"I heard that Principal Kuno had something he wanted to present to the school, which is why he gave everyone a day off to prepare for it. Whatever. Anyway, I have someone to visit."

"It is probably a new test to 'improve' morale," Satchiko grinned sourly as she left.

After she was alone, Nabiki leaned back and smiled a Nabiki smile. She purred, "Yep, it's always good to call on old friends."

HIROSHI:

Pops came home late the previous night, and then took the morning off to stay with Mom, while I sent Hainoko, protesting, off to school. With my own school postponed until tomorrow, I settled down to stare at the walls.

It happens once in a hundred years. Maybe more often, but you get my drift. It was a rare occurrence. Someone knocked at the door, and when I went to answer it, it was Ryoga. I grabbed him and pulled him in before he could ask for directions to Furinkan or the Tendo dojo.

"I have another wish!" I cried. "I wish my mother was healthy and well! You gotta do this! And then I want out of this trap!"

We both waited, but there was no answering rumble.

"It's not working! Why?"

He pried my hands loose from his shirt. "I am sorry about your mother," he said. "But you know I can't control these wishes."

"But can't I ask for something? Anything? I've got too much to worry about. My Mom is sick! My stupid kid sister saw me as Cinderella and told someone and now she has promised that I will meet with them and she will be in trouble if I don't! I don't want to stress out Mom, worrying about this, and I need someone to help me meet with these people, to handle all this stuff!"

Ryoga groaned. "Is that a..."

"Yes! I wish for an agent to help me!" I knew, somehow, that my wish was unwise. Troubles are placed on this earth to teach us how to cope for ourselves. We should not expect others to care for us. I knew, and yet I wished anyway.

-poof-

There was a rumble. Seconds later, the door swung open.

"Did someone call?" Nabiki asked, cheerfully.

"Someone shoot me," I groaned. I was doomed. Dee Double-Oh Doomed!

End: Chapter Seven


	8. Someone to Care For

Disclaimer: No gerbils were harmed in the writing of this fanfic, which is a wonder, since they have been doing all their own stunts.

ASHES - A Cinderella Story

Chapter Eight - Someone to Care For

The time we really feel the pain  
Is when we weave against the grain  
I feel fine and you look great  
We're gonna boogie with Chapter Eight.

HIROSHI:

Nabiki slapped an official looking parchment onto the table and demanded, "Explain this to me. I didn't sign this thing, but it has my name on it!"

I was trying to swallow my upset, still not prepared for the way that she had appeared out of nowhere, immediately after I had made my wish. "It's sort of complicated," I hemmed.

"Take your time. I want to hear this. Why does both your name and Cinderella's name appear on the signatures? And why are they both in the same handwriting?"

There was no escape. I had to tell her. "We're kinda the same person."

"Oh?" Nabiki raised her eyebrows in mock concern. "Are you coming out of the closet on us? I saw the video where Cinderella disappeared and you strolled onto the camera, but you did not look like the same person. I was on my way over here to ask you about it when I found this contract in my hands."

I looked to Ryoga for help, but he was busy trying to slink away.

If Nabiki had appeared in answer to my wish, then she would have to be told the truth. But how could we keep her from blabbing? I decided to take a chance.

"I want to be a rock star," I said.

-poof-

I will give Nabiki credit for this. Her eyes only bulged for a second before greed clicked in.

"We need to discuss how much you are willing to pay to keep the whole school from hearing about this," she said, with a predatory gleam in her eye. She began to list the possible customers she could approach. "There is already a Cinderella fan club in Furenkan. Most of the boys would want to know of this, and..."

-ping-

I will give Nabiki credit for this. Her eyes only bulged for a second before greed clicked in.

"How much are you willing to pay to keep me from telling the whole school about this?" Nabiki smiled with predatory anticipation as she said, "There is already a Cinderella fan club whose members would be very..."

-ping-

I will give Nabiki credit for this. Her eyes only bulged for a second before greed clicked in.

"How much are you willing to..."

She stopped, eyed me aslant, and asked, "I've been through this before, haven't I?"

As I explained that I had made a wish (without mentioning Ryoga) and the consequences thereof, I felt a weight lifting from my shoulders.

Nabiki eyed Ryoga, who was trying to blend with the wall, then turned back to peruse the parchment. "So you ran into some magic!" she spoke the word as if it were dirty. Holding the contract between thumb and forefinger, she added, "This thing is magic, too, isn't it?"

"Yep," I grabbed a towel. "Man, am I sweating!" I complained.

"Glowing," Nabiki corrected, still holding the document by the corner.

"What?"

"Men sweat. Girls glow. I read about it in a magazine."

I wiped my glowing brow. It still got the towel wet.

"Hmmm," she hummed as she read. "There is a clause, here. It says that I get a percentage of your gate, only... " The remainder of her words were unprintable, spoken in cold fury.

"Only...?"

"...Only if I never, ever, tell anyone about this. I can only talk to people who ask for you, I can't go out and promote new business. And I don't get paid until I prove that I can keep your secret, or you retire...whichever is sooner," she frowned. "I think I get it. If I try to profit from this transaction, other than as a representative, I get recycled!"

"That is the way it looks," I admitted, with great relief. There was a way. Use her own strength against her. How very 'martial arts!' I was safe. Nothing to worry about.

"Right." She turned an inquisitional eye on my petite frame and drawled, "Okay, 'Roshi-kun. What's in it for me?"

"Er...for you?"

"Right. I don't work for free."

"But I thought - " I hemmed again, stalling for time. All I had wished for was an agent, someone to represent me. Did I have to ask for some way to pay her, too? A tiny sound interrupted my worry.

-ping-

Nabiki read the bottom of the page, where a new paragraph had appeared. "Okay. I get concessions and Tee-shirts. That might help. But it is still not enough. Too much work. There is one more thing I would like to ask for."

-ping-

"That's better," she mused. "It read my mind! A full session?"

-ping-

"Wait a minute!" I cried, my voice sounding like the opening aria for a dulcet opera. "What's this about a session? What kind of session?"

"Full centerfold," Nabiki was smacking her lips in anticipation. "Enough for twelve months?"

-pong-

"Sure, I'll give up the group sports shots, if we can do a beach setup."

"Don't I get any say, here?" I yelped, prettily, "The only kind of a session I know about is a photo session, and if you get that, it means..."

Nabiki gave me a long, lingering smirk, complete with raised eyebrow. It was enough to make my blood run cold.

"I won't do it!" I declared.

"You've already signed it. Twice," Nabiki was purring like a cat with a bowl of cream.

"I'm doomed!" I groaned, but I knew when I was beaten. "Okay. Okay. Now, do you accept?"

"I'll have to think on it. That's a lot of work for very little money. Not to mention that I would have to throw in lessons on being feminine."

"I don't want to be feminine!"

"But you said you went to see that singer, Primrose. She thinks you are a girl, but she won't be fooled for long if you keep making mistakes."

"I'm not making any mistakes!"

"Oh, yes, you are. You shuffle when you walk. You talk too loud. You stand as if you expect to be assaulted. How long do you think you can get away with this charade?" she countered, "You don't know the first thing about acting like a girl!"

"I'll...I'll bluff it out. I'm supposed to be a rock star. They don't have to act normal!"

She looked me over slowly, all the way around, blue coat with tails and semi-transparent blouse and all, until she came to a stop in front of me. With her finger a millimeter away from prodding my breast, she gave me a predator's grin. "You're not comfortable with this, are you?"

"No! No, I am not!"

"I'll arrange in interview with Ranma. He'll help guide you through the worst spots. Underwear and all that."

I felt as if the floor had been cut out from under me. "You can't tell him!" I cried, dismayed that my objection came out as a girlish squeal. I grabbed the doorknob ahead of her, to keep her from leaving. "I'll do it myself!"

"Fine. When?"

"Ah...when I'm ready."

"Right. Any year, now."

"Well, I'm not ready, yet! Okay?"

"Very well. Because you interest me, I'll stay on. Although, I don't mind telling you, this contract would never stand up in court!"

"Fine! Just throw it in the trash!"

"Oh, I can't do that! The payoff could be terrific! But if I can't arrange for you to work paying gigs, where's the profit in that?" Her mind was working furiously as she headed for the street. "There has to be some way!"

---------------

I watched her go, feeling like a swimmer watching a departing shark. She was scarcely out the door before I cornered Ryoga.

"You have to help me with my mother! Can't I wish something?"

"I'm very sorry about your mother, Hiroshi, but there is nothing I can do about it. Maybe she'll get over it without magic," Ryoga said.

"You are right. I am being silly. I don't know how bad it is. But I have this awful feeling - "

I could not get over the way Pops and the doctor had shut up when I went to see Mom. They had given me that strange look. Come to think of it, Mom had given me a strange look. Was I changing? Was I growing fangs and long ears? What was the matter with me?

Ryoga was hoisting his backpack, preparing to vanish into the incredibly complex maze that was a simple street. "I didn't ask for this responsibility!" he said. "Sometimes, even when I really want to help, nothing happens!" He shut up as Nabiki stuck her head back in the door.

"Hi guys! I forgot my valise!" Nabiki said cheerfully, grabbed it and hurried back out. When she halted on the stoop to greet someone, I remembered that I was still an underclad girl.

"Oh, no!" I gasped, "Pops is bringing my mom home! I can't let her see me like this again! Don't tell her I was here!"

"Don't ask me to lie for you!" Ryoga growled at me, "Can't you face your own parents?"

"You don't understand! My mom thinks I am dating myself!"

He blinked. "She does?"

I called back to him as I hurried out the back door, "Here she comes! Remember! You didn't see me, okay?"

"I am still not going to...Oh, hello, Mrs. H!"

With Pops dancing attendance, Mom entered, stage right, emoting pleased surprise, "Why, you must be Ryoga, one of Hiroshi's friends!" Mom loves an audience. I don't think Ryoga knew what to make of her. He stammered and scratched his neck and tried to be polite, but Mom just grasped him by the elbow and chattered, "I am so delighted to meet you! Tell me, what do you think of Hiroshi's new girl friend?"

"Girl friend?" Ryoga looked like a cat near a birdcage, with feathers in his teeth. Pops appeared to have swallowed something larger and with claws as he gasped for air.

"Oh, yes!" Mom looked about, "She is such a sweet thing! Why, she was right here a moment ago!"

"Ah! No, no, didn't see anyone! You must be mistaken!" Ryoga scrambled to make his escape.

Mom came into the kitchen, but I had already ducked out the door and fled down the back stair. "That's odd," she mused, "I could have sworn I saw her."

Ryoga caught me before I reached the end of the block. "What did you tell your mother about your wish?" he demanded, holding me by the collar.

"Nothing! I don't want to tell her anything!" I complained sweetly as I wriggled in his grasp. "She'd tell Pops, and Pops would kill me! He hates sissies! The only ones who know are Nabiki and Daisuke, and I am sorry I told them!"

"Hmph," said Ryoga, as my feet scratched for purchase. "You should count yourself lucky, and be glad you have any friends! I would think that you would cherish the relationship you have with your pal, Daisuke!"

"Cinderella! I have been looking for you!" came a voice down the street, from a friend whose relationship I had always cherished. Up to a point. That point was rapidly approaching, with the force of an aircraft coming in for a carrier landing.

"I gotta go," I said. I twisted about, broke free from Ryoga's grip and fled down the street. Daisuke was in hot pursuit, holding a length of ribbon marked in centimeters.

"Wait!" Daisuke was crying, "This won't take a minute!"

"No!" I cried, "Nononono! That is too humiliating!"

NABIKI:

Nabiki entered gates shimmering with polished stone, past a tidy lawn being tended by a harried groundskeeper in neat but threadbare clothing, and up the steps of a mansion pillared with imported marble. She knew it was imported because it still had customs tags plastered conspicuously over it.

"This looks impressive," she admitted. Impressive, too, was the demeanor of the servant who answered the door and escorted her into the parlor, although the old man's frock coat appeared frayed at the cuff.

Nabiki was thinking of other affairs, however. "These people have money," she said to herself as she waited, looking about the parlor at the expensive appointments. "Terrible taste, but lots of money to throw at the decorators. I'll simply have to arrange to have them throw some at me."

In a moment, the same servant appeared, wearing a different but equally worn coat. "The mistress of the house will see you, now," he announced, and led Nabiki into another room.

"Who is it?" asked a bosomy woman, looking up from tending her aquarium.

"A young lady, Mum," responded the servant. "I believe she is here about the entertainment."

"Oh, excellent!" breathed the lady, "My dears were telling me that you were going to sing for the 'event'."

"Whoa, no!" Nabiki sputtered, "Not me! I represent someone who has asked me to negotiate."

"Negotiate? I have money! I pay generously, I never bicker! Who is this person whom you represent?"

"Cinderella. You may not have heard of her. She is very new." Cash registers were playing a concerto in the back of Nabiki's mind. Never bicker? Let's see if we can raise the threshold, then!

"Oh, excellent! I love fairy tale singers! Is she any good?"

Nabiki gave her a tight smile. "I represent only the best."

"Then she can start immediately. I will require that she attend my evening meals. When she is not singing, she can help serve the guests. There is a spare room where she can stay in between performances."

"I don't think you understand exactly what my client does," Nabiki began, noticing that the same servant had reappeared to pour tea, wearing a different, but equally worn, uniform.

"Nonsense! She is an entertainer for hire, isn't she? I believe that every person should earn every penny that I pay them, and when she is not singing, she can keep busy. A yen saved is a yen earned, my dear, departed husband always said."

Nabiki was tapping her toe against the elegant teakwood coffee table, which still had the price tag affixed in a prominent position. "My client is a rock star," she said, in a measured voice. "She sings. While she is not singing, she has a life." The fact that said life consisted of being a boy pursuing a fulltime career in Furinkan High School was not a factor that she was prepared to discuss. In fact, the more she thought about it, the less she wanted to say about Hiroshi's activities.

"But, I pay well," the matron responded, as if that solved everything. "Any of my servants will tell you, they have no complaints."

Nabiki glanced at the servant pouring tea, who looked at the ceiling and remained silent as he tried to hide a patched spot on his jacket.

Nevertheless, I will not give up this chance to make a yen, she resolved. "Exactly how much are we talking about?"

"Why, twenty thousand yen a week! Not to mention, she will be eating with the other servants. Entertainers can't expect to eat with the guests."

"Uh - sure. Right." Nabiki fumed. For twenty thousand yen, she could buy a ticket to a real concert. "Sorry," she announced, rising to her feet. "My client suddenly has another engagement. She will not be available for your 'event'."

The matron lowered her tea cup and stared at her, incomprehendingly. "She is refusing my offer?" she gasped.

"I am afraid so. Sorry." Lady, if I have anything to say about it, he will tell you to stick your offer where the sun don't--- "Really nothing we can do about it. See ya."

At the door, Nabiki turned to the servant, who had again donned the worn frock coat to see her out. To the old man, she said, "You pay for your own uniforms, don't you?"

"Of course," the old man smiled, weakly. "Doesn't everyone?"

"Not this gal," Nabiki said between gritted teeth, as she strode determinedly away.

At a park near school, she saw a familiar face. She shifted modes of thinking and became the huntress instead of the bargainer. Stealthily, she moved into position for the kill.

HAINOKO:

Hainoko would have been happy to stay inside and study, but the teachers insisted that everyone had to get outdoors because it was so much healthier. She was sitting on the steps reading when someone came along and blocked the healthy sunshine.

"You think you're smart, don't you?" Deirdre sneered, restoring her cell-phone to her backpack, while Deirdrum took up sentry duty between them and the playground teacher. "You sent that stuck-up lady around to make up excuses cause you can't prove Cinderella is your best friend!"

"I didn't say she was my best friend!" objected Hainoko, trying to hold onto her book as it was pulled from her hands. "She's my...I mean, my brother Hiroshi can..."

"I don't want to hear your lies!" shrilled Deirdre. She waved the book just out of Hainoko's reach, the way she always did before she threw something over the fence. "That woman made my mother feel bad! Do you know what happens when Mother gets unhappy?"

Hainoko felt her lower lip begin to slide forward. "Hiroshi can..." Again she could not continue. Her book was precious, but something kept her from telling them about Hiroshi's ability. Would he turn into Cinderella to help her? Would he be angry if she told everyone about him?

Deirdre dropped the book aside. "Don't forget Miss Yamato is still looking for whoever brought that nasty poster to class!"

"What's your big brother going to do, anyway?" yipped Deirdrum. "Why don't you bring your big brother to school tomorrow? We have a surprise for you both."

"We dare you," contributed Deirdre.

Another shadow appeared, and the two bullies began to slink away.

"Hainoko? What have I told you about throwing your books around?" Miss Yamato picked up the book and handed it back to her. "You will be more careful, won't you?"

Hainoko felt tears burning, but she held them in check. "Yes, Miss Yamato," she said, contritely.

NABIKI:

There is a type of stare that you see only when an animal is cornered: white about the irises, extraordinary pupils, absolute devotion of attention to the creature that holds it transfixed. Think of a bird hypnotized by a snake. Think of a mouse with a hawk at twelve o'clock. Think of Ryoga and Nabiki when Nabiki smells blood...er...gold.

'You have to help me with my mother! Can't I wish something?' -zzzipppp- 'Maybe she'll get over it without magic.'

Nabiki had an unapologetic smile on her face as she switched off the tape recorder. "It's the darndest thing," she said. "I accidentally left it on, when I left my valise at Hiroshi's, and you heard what it caught you saying to Hiroshi. What else do you suppose I found on it?"

"Nothing?" Ryoga ventured, hopefully.

"Not a thing. From the time I said hello to Hiroshi until I left. However, after I left, it got everything. With what there is on this tape, not to mention the other stuff I have on you, I think we can swing a deal."

"Other stuff?"

Ryoga's involuntary twitch made the corners of Nabiki's lips curl upward in delicious anticipation. He's hiding something, all right. Time to go fishing. I don't have anything, but he doesn't know that. "In addition..." she paused, "There have been some strange things happening, lately. It seems you are around, somewhere, each time, then you mysteriously disappear. It is almost as if you had a secret identity."

"What...what..." sputtered Ryoga, turning pale, his eyes wide as saucers, "You know about that?"

Bingo! "Of course I know!" snapped Nabiki, "Everyone in this place who has any sense knows about it. Who can miss seeing you disappear and someone else suddenly arrive?" She did not question the information, or the fact that it seemed too convenient. What mattered was his reaction. A relay clicked over in the back of her mind, but she ignored it and the truth, unobserved, subsided into background noise.

Ryoga seemed about to melt in panic. "But - you've never tried to blackmail me!"

"Oh. That." Nabiki waved the thought aside. "You wouldn't understand. I don't attack weaklings."

Ryoga sprang back to a state of indignation. "Who are you calling weak!" he demanded.

"You, for one." She tapped his forehead with a finger. "Mind you, I've kept my eyes open for a way to use this knowledge, but the opportunity has never presented itself. Until now. Suddenly you have a new secret I can exploit, without destroying life as we know it."

Ryoga asked cautiously, "What weakness?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't call it a weakness," Nabiki smiled to herself. She'd have to bring up the subject carefully. Otherwise, he'd run away so fast she would lose her chance. "Things happen around you. Some good things, some not so good. A person might guess that you have some kind of power to give people what they ask for. You make wishes happen." She patted the tape recorder.

"Not true!" Ryoga blurted, but the alarm on his face told her she was perilously close to the truth. He was casting alarmed glances at the shadows.

At least he didn't just run away, Nabiki smirked, "You were there when I talked to Hiroshi. You know what happened to him, when he made a wish. He's singing a different tune, now, isn't he? I think you had something to do with it. Now, a few minutes ago, I watched a little kid wish for a balloon, and you made some kind of gesture, and a hundred balloons appeared. All I have to do is ask for something, and you will have to give it to me! Okay, I wish for a billion yen!"

Ryoga tensed and looked around. Birds twittered, insects hummed, but nothing else happened. He began to relax.

"Okay, so it does not work every time," Nabiki frowned. "What does it have to be, an unselfish wish?"

"I don't have to answer that," Ryoga answered that.

"Wait a minute!" she grabbed him by the ear, "Get back here. You don't get off the hook that easily."

"What!"

"Can you grant wishes?"

Ryoga gently extricated his ear and tried to act casual. "Why didn't you ask that before you started?" he asked.

"Well, can you? Wait. Do you have to answer my questions truthfully?"

Ryoga glanced at his bracelet and made a sour face. "My sources say 'yes'," he answered glumly.

Nabiki wrinkled her nose and growled, "Oh, it's going to be that way, is it? Yes, no, twenty questions?" She thought for a moment and began again, slowly.

"You have a power. Yes or no."

"Yes. Sort of. And I did not ask for it! I can't help it if strange things happen to me! It's not my fault!"

"Oh, right. Don't try to sidetrack me. Can you grant me a wish?"

"Sometimes," Ryoga said, evasively.

"What kind of wish do you grant?"

"It's not that simple! You have to be eligible."

"Oh, I see. Like you have to have enough credit to get a wish. What if I wished for something small?"

"You still don't get it! I don't decide! Some people wish for one thing, when they might deserve something else entirely, and then they complain because they did not get what they thought they wanted! I never asked for this ingratitude!"

Nabiki patted his arm consolingly and said, "That's okay, Hibiki. At least you can't blame this on Ranma."

Ryoga grabbed at the possibility. "You're right! I was talking to him when I..." He fell silent.

Nabiki tired of waiting and prodded him. "When you what?"

Ryoga covered his face with his callused palms. "I...I...can't talk about it."

"But then you started granting wishes."

"Well, yes. Sort of."

"Back to question number one. What kind of wish will you grant for little old moi?" Nabiki fluttered her eyes in a way that could have been fetching, were it not for the yen behind the lids.

"I don't know! All you want is money!" Ryoga said with exasperation, "Ask for something else!"

"I..." Nabiki stopped suddenly, an appreciative grimace on her face. "That was very subtle of you. Never thought you had it in you to be clever."

"Clever?" Ryoga gave her a blank, helpless stare.

"You almost got me to ask for something foolish...nonprofitable. You want me to ask for a sweetheart? Mind you, if I had said 'I wish for someone to care for', you could not pair me up with a dip like, say, Kuno or some other lame excuse for a guy,"

Nabiki waved away the thought. "Dream on, Hibiki. I'm not that kind of girl. After all, if I asked for a friend, maybe...not you!...I wouldn't want a bunch of sticky, syrupy romance...I told you, I'm not that easy to please."

-poof-

The ground shuddered.

She shifted her gaze about and mused, "Y'know, that was a very circumstantial earth tremor." Turning to her companion, she found him still shaking, with his face even paler. "Does it mean anything?" she wondered aloud.

"Nothing! It means nothing!" Ryoga cried as he departed the scene in third degree panic, bowling over trash cans, stone fences and the occasional utility pole.

Nabiki shook her head and muttered, as she watched him vanish, "Oh, well. Easy come, easy go."

She was about to step off the curb into the crosswalk when a dense black cloud screeched to a stop, blocking her path. Immediately, a woman appeared. She was wearing neo-retro garb, her hair about half explosive curls and half gray mopstring, her face part beauty and part ogre, and she was displaying approximately one kilogram of attitude over Nabiki's tolerance level.

"Did you see a fairy god-mother person here?" the half-old lady demanded.

"Just follow that road," said Nabiki, watching her with narrowed eyes while she pointed in the wrong direction. "If you stay on it, it will..."

"I will find her! She cannot escape me so easily!" The woman climbed back into the smoke cloud and accelerated in the direction Nabiki had indicated.

"...drop you right in the Pacific Ocean. Hope that thing has good brakes," Nabiki finished. She shook her head again and shuddered, then took a quick step backward to avoid being run over by a blue-eyed blond in a miniskirt who raced past crying 'nononono!', followed soon after by another familiar person.

"Hiya, Daisuke," Nabiki said.

"Oh, h'lo, Nab-chan," puffed Daisuke. "Did you see..."

"That way," said Nabiki, again pointing in a wrong direction. Daisuke raced away, followed shortly by Yuki, Saori and Niko.

"Wait, Dai-chan!" they called, "We want a date!"

This time Nabiki looked both ways before taking a careful step onto the walkway. She quickly withdrew the foot as Ranma bounced past, sticking out his tongue and 'biiiihing' at Kuno, who was two steps behind and waving his bokken furiously.

"Just you wait, Ranma Saotome!" cried Kuno, "Sorcerer! I shall teach you a lesson for purloining the affections of my Pig-Tailed Girl!"

Close behind Kuno struggled a near-child, Miss Hinako, waving a five-yen coin and screaming, "Delinquents!"

"I'd better keep an eye out for anything unusual," Nabiki said as she traversed the crosswalk without further mishap. "Not that I actually believe all this nonsense about wishes. Still, I'll be careful of any boys I meet." Safely on the other sidewalk, she scanned the horizon for boys. She was alone.

Well, not quite alone. As she stood on the path, someone bumped into her from behind. Since this someone was only a little over a meter tall, Nabiki had to lean over to talk to her.

"Good morning, Hainoko-chan."

"Sorry," said Hainoko, somberly saluting with a finger in the nose. Her cheeks were streaked with dried tears.

"You seem pre-occupied," quoth Nabiki, who often found herself doomed to inform others of the obvious.

"S'nothing."

"Big problems?"

"Uh-huh."

"Want to talk about it?" Please say 'no'. I have people to do and things to see.

"Nuh-uh."

On the other hand, she knows something, and it's bothering her. "Is this about Hiroshi?"

Big stare. "How did you know?"

"Trust me. What have you discovered about big brother that has you so upset?" As if I did not know. Found out, huh?

"I oughtn't tell."

"I suppose you are right. That is something that you shouldn't go blabbing around. I respect you for your decision."

Hainoko ducked her head.

"Oh, you haven't decided, yet? Not to tell, I mean?" Nabiki took tiny shoulders in hand and smiled into the doubtful eyes. "Now, who could you want to tell?"

"Those bullies at the school. If they knew, they'd never pick on me again," Hainoko did not return her gaze as she added, "Deirdre is so stuck up. She called me a liar. I should have told them. I could have told them..."

"Well, then," Nabiki released her, paced back and forth, then struck a thoughtful pose. "How do you turn this to your advantage? You have a terrible secret, which your brother will probably pay handsomely to protect. You have someone to tell that secret to. How can you lose?"

Hainoko hiccuped and eyed her. "I've heard Hiroshi talk about you," she said. "Why do you want to help me?"

"I..." Nabiki stopped, asking herself the same question. The wheels turned within her mind, until she said, slowly, "My reputation precedes me. Oh, well. What if I decided it was time to train a protegee?"

"What's that?"

"A student. Someone to carry on my life's work. And to work for me, too. Mustn't forget that. I have several people that I am helping. Of course, you are a bit young..."

"No. Thank you," sniffed Hainoko. "I have to go home, now."

"You don't want my advice?" Buy low, sell high. Naaww. She'd never understand.

Hainoko paused and frowned. "If it's free," she said as she rubbed her nose again.

Nabiki quirked an eyebrow. Maybe she would understand. "Look at your options. You can use what you know to boost your school-yard status. Everyone would want to be your friend if they knew how close you really were to Cinderella," Nabiki said with a Thoughtful Scowl (patent pending). "Or, you could go to Hiroshi and say, 'Big brother, if you don't give me such-and-such I will expose you.'"

After a moment of scrutinizing Nabiki's face, wondering how much this big woman actually knew about Hiroshi, Hainoko said, pensively, "I know. He's afraid everyone will find out." She wriggled miserably, remembering how earnestly Hiroshi had pleaded for that girl's safety at Ucchan's. This was a side of him that she had never seen, and she was not sure if this new version of her brother deserved to be threatened. "I'm all twisted around inside, just thinking about it," she added.

"Okay. This is your first lesson, if I am going to be your sensei. Determine the course of action which is most profitable in the long run. I am confident that you will choose wisely. Now, run along. I am sure your mother is waiting for you." There. That ought to occupy the little brat.

Nabiki stopped when the little girl squirmed away and began to rub her eyes.

"Don't tell me you have other problems," Nabiki scoffed. I can read this kid like the morning paper. "I suppose your mother isn't home right now...right. You can't get in...no, you can get in. She's shopping...no. She's at the doctor's...okay. She's sick...yes. She's bad sick...oops."

For answer, Hainoko closed her mouth tightly while her eyes seemed to grow larger, like water balloons approaching full charge.

Uh-oh, thought Nabiki.

The water balloons began to leak, while Hainoko's chin quivered.

Oh, jeez, thought Nabiki. She grabbed a tissue from her valise and tried to mop up the overflow. "That's okay, now. Let it all out. She really is sick, huh?"

Hainoko nodded vigorously.

Damn. Me and my big... "Here, let me wipe that - You're worried about her, aren't you?"

An even stronger nod.

"And they won't let you get around her because she's too sick, hmmm?" The ache in her heart surprised Nabiki, as memories of helplessness flooded her. Painful memories, when she was worried and no one would tell her anything. She had resolved never to be that powerless again.

"They say (gulp)...they say I might make her sicker. But they let Hiroshi see her!" Hainoko wailed, not mentioning that big brother Hiroshi had forced his way to Mommy's side. She clasped Nabiki tighter as the tears began anew.

Nabiki muttered some homilies, scarcely paying attention to what she said. Hugging Hainoko seemed to ease the tension in her own chest, somehow. She gathered the small child in her arms, gave her a final hug and sent her on her way, thinking, Great. Just when I have to watch out for Ryoga pulling a fast one on me, I get a kid to worry about...

Nabiki frowned.

To care about. Someone to care for...

Realization smote her and she jerked upright, a calculating look in her eyes and a growl on her lips.

"Ryoga Hibiki, you are so dead!"

End: Chapter Eight


	9. Mommy Dearest

No gerbils were harmed in the writing of this fanfic. Trust me. 

ASHES - A Cinderella Story

Chapter Nine - Mommy Dearest

We've had fun weaving words that rhyme  
But we don't mess with Father Time   
While everybody's doing fine   
Let's rock and roll with Chapter Nine.

HIROSHI:

That evening, Kidori, or rather, Primrose and the Path, performed at a local concert hall. Naturally, I attended, after scrounging the money for tickets from Daisuke. Daisuke had plenty of money, since his two dates were paying for his way. I was not jealous. Not at all. Why should I be jealous that he had two girls hanging on him while I had only...Kidori.

Kidori began her performance with her usual warmup. She seemed to have recovered from her ordeal the night before. However, as she vamped into her routine she was not putting a lot of energy into it. Listlessly, she looked around, saw me as Hiroshi, and immediately turned away, stumbling over the next line of her song.

When she finished, she faced out over the audience and started another, one the group had not recorded. The members of the band swung into the backbeat, Guapo soft on the drums and Sakko-chan easy on the sax. JuuPooku, the bass guitarist, started off playing a different song, one they had been practicing, until she realized she was all alone. She frowned hugely, as if displeased, but segued in.

Feels like centuries,  
lost without a clue  
Traveled the whole world over,  
trying to find you

But now that I've found you,  
you are so far above  
Climb nine and ninety steps uphill  
tryin' to win your love.

But when I reached for you,  
I stumbled to the ground,  
Took ninety-nine steps to reach your heart  
but only one step to fall down.

The first time that I saw your face,  
it almost broke my heart  
Oh, you're so far above me,  
we'll always be apart

The chances that I'll share your love  
are looking very pale,  
Only one way to win your heart  
and ninety-nine ways to fail.

And so, I know, our love is only  
letters written in the sand,  
There are shadows on the ground between us  
you don't understand.

It was a moment of weakness. I have no other excuse. The music called, she sounded so sad, and I rationalized that she needed someone to help. Slipping behind the privacy of a fold of curtain, I transformed into my alter ego, grabbed a mike and stepped out on the stage behind her, to join in the chorus to which I somehow knew the words.

You and I both know  
we'll never make it in this town,  
Ninety-nine steps up to your heart  
but only one step to fall down.

Kidori brightened when she saw me, as if they had thrown another spotlight on her. I ached to touch her, but it would not be right. Doubly so, while I was in my shape. So, I did the only thing I could do, which was to sing along with her. As our voices blended, the audience stopped shifting and muttering in disappointment and began to liven up.

I show my heart but you don't stop  
and I tumble like a clown  
Ninety-nine steps to win your heart  
but only one step to fall down.

So I sing my songs and hide my heart  
and travel with my band  
'Cause there's shadows on the ground between us  
you don't understand.

You and I both know  
we'll never make it in this town,  
With nine and ninety steps to climb  
and only one step to fall down.

You know how I love seeing you around,  
But it's ninety-nine steps to win your love  
and only one step to fall down.

The audience exploded in cheers for Primrose, and I basked in the reflected glory. Ahhhh. Fans. Applause. Adulation. I loved it, even though I was so weak in the knees I could have collapsed. Kidori rushed over to me and begged me to sing another song with her. I let her pursuade me. Hah! As if I would have refused! In case you haven't noticed, my ego is pressurized.

And so, we performed. The music was flawless, driving and compelling, and we danced a duo to make the stars swoon. For a finale, Kidori popped out her flower petals and I snapped a bunch of blue ribbons into the audience. I even forgave Daisuke for being so dense and I sent one his way. The theater was packed and the thundering applause left me weak and made my head spin. It was perfect. Everything was perfect.

Kidori and I were swept from the stage by adoring fans, cheered and applauded for encores, which we had to deny because we were both so exhausted. Finally we ended up in her dressing room, where things started going wrong. Not 'wrong' wrong, at first. At first she started changing out of her costume, while I made excuses. Then as she turned away to strip I saw enough that I had to stare at the wall in a panic, to avoid nosebleeding. There was no doubt in my mind that she was female. And there was no doubt in my mind that I was a louse, betraying her trust in me for my own pathetic desires.

"Ah...what's in this office?" I asked, trying to find something to get my mind off clothes.

"You really shouldn't..." she began, but I had already opened the door.

And stopped, immobilized, by the face that greeted me. It was a horrible face, distorted beyond recognition by age, harsh times and fierce determination. Glittering eyes challenged me through slits in the leathery surface, separated by a gargoyle nose. I had to be confronting the person with the ugly mask.

While I stood frozen by the sight, the person in the mask attacked. With the heel of my hand I countered a sidearm slash, batted a four-finger thrust away with my other elbow, danced over a leg sweep and tumbled backward out of the office.

The door slammed, and I was relieved to hear the bolt slide closed. The relief was two-fold, for now I could relax. Kidori could not be the person in the mask, the one who had been attacking the female martial artists in Nerima. She was innocent!

I regained my feet, shaken by the memory of a face too ghastly to behold except on the evening news, and I sputtered, "Who...who... who was THAT? What a horrible mask!"

"I was trying to tell you. That's not a mask. That's my mother. Actually, she is not my REAL mother. She's just a stepmother. She does not like to talk to visitors. Honestly, you would like her if you get to know her. She can smile. Sometimes. At least, that is what I have heard."

"Argh," I said. Must breathe. Must remember to take a breath. Keep moving. Sharks die if they do not keep moving. "But, why did she attack me?"

"Mother wants to know if people have martial arts abilities," Kidori said. She had already dressed in shorts and sweater. "Don't worry. You are far too skilled to allow her to hurt you. Aren't you going to change?"

I hesitated. In order to change my clothes, I would have to take off my clothes. I would have to face a me without even a skimpy costume over the most critical of areas. It took me a moment to consider, but...yeah, I could do that.

I actually undid three buttons. At the third button, I found a tag, sewn to the lining of the blouse, which read, "Stock blouse. Created by Magic, product of Heaven Knows, for use in Fulfillment of Female Fantasies, Unlimited. 100 Elysium Cotton. Bra not included."

I became aware that: a) I had my hand on my chest. My blouse was open, and I had my hand on my chest. In public. b) My blouse was open, I could see an indecent amount of skin, while I had my hand on my chest. In public. c) In front of a girl, who was gazing at me with adoring eyes.

"Accckk!" I yipped, hastily rebuttoned the blouse, grabbed my costume bag, and dashed for the door. "Igottago! I can't think about this, I can't think about this! I gotta go!"

"Oh, please, stay around a while! I need someone to talk with!" she begged, touching my arm. Pulling away from her tender grasp was the most difficult thing I have ever done, but I had to go. I was beginning to feel exposed, as if someone was watching me from within the office, and my nerves were beginning to scream.

Not only was I about to revert to boy status, I had this terrible, sinking feeling that Kidori wanted me in my girl shape, and that was almost as bad as knowing that she would never give the boy me a second glance.

She waved a weak farewell as I hurried out of the dressing room, giving the office door a wide berth.

Something teased my heightened senses, following me, shifting through the dark places and back streets, much like the shadow which had followed me home the night Ranma and Shampoo had fought with the masked girl. I evaded it long enough to duck into an unlocked booth in the deserted marketplace. The presense quested about until it gave up in frustration and it left before I poofed back to normal dullness. When the change came, I wandered aimlessly for a while until, unable to avoid it any longer, I slumped back home.

Mom was home, much rested and bustling about, fussing and smiling as if trying to prove that nothing was wrong with the world, pretending that she had never been sick. She had to reassure Hainoko over and over that nothing was wrong before the packrat quit clinging to her and simply stared at me.

--------------

I was sitting at my desk, chin propped on palms, when I heard the door slide open. I did not turn to look. My misery was complete. Kidori was some kind of a two-faced sociopath, outwardly a kind, beautiful, smiling girl, but inwardly a beast who used her hidden strength to brutalize other girls. I could almost accept that. I mean, at least she had some redeeming qualities. But if she beat up on girls because she liked girls and not boys... I was miserable. Either way I lost. I sighed morosely. What else could go wrong?

Small socks scuffed the floor to stand behind me.

I sighed again and tried to squeeze the pain out of my temples, waiting for her to go away and leave me alone.

Finally, Hainoko whispered, "I know you are Cinderella."

Before she could finish the statement I arose from the desk, flew across the room and clamped my hand over her mouth. "Don't tell anyone!" I begged, "Please! You won't tell anyone? Will you?"

She shook her head, as well as she could with my hand restricting her.

"How did you find out? Oh, Kamis! Now everyone will know! I won't be able to go to school! They'll mob me! Did you tell anyone? How did you find out?" I repeated.

"Mmmmpphmmmphh," said Hainoko around my hand.

"Oh," I said, and I took my hand away.

Hainoko brought a bundle around from behind her. "Here," she said, handing me my Primrose poster. With it were the clothes I had dropped in Ucchan's.

I looked at the poster numbly, shifting it from hand to hand. "Why? What do you want?" I asked, "Are you going to tell?"

"No."

"Why not?" As much as I wanted to, I could not believe she would let me off this easy.

Hainoko rubbed her nose and thought. She backed out and started to slide the door closed, then admitted, "I don't know."

Later, I knocked and watched through the half-open doorway as she looked around, uncertain. Mom was the only one who ever knocked on her door. She slid the door the rest of the way open and gazed up at me.

"Thanks," I said. I gave the Primrose poster back to her, feeling slightly foolish. Here we were, mortal enemies, exchanging a poster.

She took the tube and verified that the paper rolled up in it was, indeed, Primrose, before she ventured the ghost of a smile. She did not put it away, but held onto it. "Could you get me another Cinderella poster, too?" she asked. Instantly abashed, she added, "I'm sorry. I lost yours."

I stopped, frowning. "You lost it?"

She nodded, with large sad eyes. "I took it to school 'cause I liked it so much. A teacher got it."

"Was it a good teacher or a bad teacher? We could go ask for it back," I said, trying to keep a stern face.

"I wasn't s'posed to have it there."

"Oh. I could go buy another one. But why should I give it to you?"

"If you don't, I'll probably steal it, anyway," she said. Cute smile. Wonder why she had never showed it before?

"Okay, then," I said, extending my hand. "It's a deal. Truce?"

"Truce..." she became somber for a moment as she tried to match my grip with her small hand, then a shy grin stole across her face. She held her hand up, palm toward me. "High five?"

I brought my palm up to meet hers. "High five. Awright."

She added, "...Wart Hog!"

I came back at her, "Tarantula!"

"Bug-eater!"

"Spider monkey!"

"Children!" cried Mom from downstairs, "Are you fighting again?"

Hainoko and I stared at each other in chagrin. Mom always broke up our shouting contests and then had to suffer in silence while we tried to blame each other for starting it.

"Yes, Mom!" I said. "Sort of."

"Don't fight. Be nice to one another," she commanded. There was something different about her voice, something abnormally cheerful. It was frightening.

"Okay, Mom!" I called.

"Yes, Mommy! I'm sorry!"

------------

With my homework finished early, I had time to kill. At the door, I called, "I'm going out, Mom! Are you feeling okay?"

"Of course I am feeling well, Hiroshi! What kind of question is that?"

"Just asking, Mom. I'll be back in a couple of hours."

"Hiroshi, dear. There is something I have to ask you about," Mom said with a dramatic pause. "Have you been seeing that girl again?"

"Huh? Ah...oh...no! No, Mom! Not at all! I haven't been seeing anyone! No one has been around to see me, either! Just sitting up here, all alone, all by myself, being quiet! Ah. Was there anything else?"

"Yes, there is, and it is terribly important..." Hesitation. Distinct Concern. "...but it can wait. I am not sure what I want to say. I have so much on my mind. I want to think about it."

All I could hear was the 'terribly'. "Is it - is it bad?"

"Of course not!" Mom giggled, turned a little pale and sat down. Then she gave me THAT look. The one Pops and the doctor had used. I left the house in a state of unease. Halfway down the street I stopped and went back to close the door that I had left open.

-----------

I suppose I could have kicked a can down the street all night long, but I was lonely, so I went to look for people. At the Cat Cafe I came across Daisuke.

Don't get me wrong. Dai and I were pals. We had always hung out together. This time, however, he could only spare a few moments to talk to me before his companions demanded more of his time. One of them was Yuki. She was looking tired, exasperated, and determined, yet still she clung to one of Daisuke's arms as tightly as Niko clutched the other. I went on to find Mousse to place my order, and looked around for someone who had time to talk to me.

"Yo, 'Roshi!" Ranma said around a mouthful of noodles. He was just polishing off a bowl of ramen, while Shampoo and Akane watched each other across the table. I collected my own bowl of 'Chicken dancing in Spring Herbs' ramen from Mousse and went to join them.

They were discussing the recent fights. Cologne had been listening, balanced on her staff at the entry to the kitchen, and she hopped over to join the conversation. "It could have been a haunted battle mask," she mused.

"Huh?" Shampoo looked up from her staring contest with Akane, "Battle mask?"

"To you youngsters, a mask may seem a hindrance, but some warriors in the old days wore a mask to protect their face and to enhance the fearsomeness of their appearance. There are cases in my books of these masks actually picking up some of the personality of the warrior who wore them...a kind of 'psychic signature', reflecting the tremendous emotional charge the warrior was experiencing at the height of conflict."

"What 'signature' have to do with monster masked girl?" Shampoo wondered.

"Actually," interposed Akane, who was the only one who had seen their opponent in daylight, "it was more like the mask a drama actor might wear."

"That is something about your description which puzzles me," the old woman frowned. "However, this is what I am saying. A truly gifted warrior might have imbued his battle mask with enough of his own spirit, his 'residual chi', that whoever wore the mask afterward would pick up some of the original owner's abilities. They could even have their own martial arts capabilities multiplied many times over."

"You mean, like the 'battle suit' that I wore to defeat Ranma that time," Akane said, watching Ranma from the corner of her eye. Ranma's smile darkened slightly and he harrumphed to himself.

"Precisely, child. However, in this case, the personality of the original owner could be overwhelming the person now wearing it. That person would have to be extraordinarily susceptible to the influence for this to happen."

"Y'mean she don't know what she's doin'?"

"Oh, yes, Son-in-Law. She would be aware, all right. But she could not stop herself. The influence would be occurring at a subconscious level. She would be controlled by the warrior impulse - much as you are controlled by the impulse to dodge blows in fighting, or a girl like Akane would be controlled by the impulse to care for a loved one."

"Heh. Guess I'm safe, there." Ranma glanced over at Akane, who sniffed and looked away.

"At any rate, this 'masked girl' could eventually learn to overcome this warrior impulse, but to do so, she would have to change her own inner nature, until she was as powerful as the warrior. Ultimately, that would mean that she would be absorbing the warrior into herself."

Kidori's mother's face loomed in my mind. She wanted Kidori to master martial arts, while Kidori was indifferent. Her mother had a horrible face, but she was not the person who was using a mask to attack people. With a sick certainty I knew who the 'masked girl' was.

"Are you saying that she would no longer be Kidori?" I blurted, more a statement than a question. Everyone turned to stare at me.

Cologne sighed with a dismissive gesture and said, "No. She would not, Boy. Not as you know her, today."

"I can't let that happen!" I cried, before I could clamp a lock on my runaway mouth.

"I know you swore she wasn't the masked girl," said Ranma. "But ya gotta face it - there's something missing, there."

"It can't be Kidori!" exclaimed Akane. "She is too tender- hearted!"

"I hope it isn't," I said, glumly. "But if she is, I will do everything in my power to help her get free of it!"

"Oh. Yeah. Guess ya would feel that way about it." Ranma returned to his meal without his customary vigor.

"I have to help!" I cried, "I lo...lo...like her! And I am the only one who can help her!"

I was aware of the sympathetic looks they gave me. Goofy old Hiroshi. They thought I was crazy. At least they did not laugh at me. But, then, they did not understand. Kidori was too meek. Kidori was too kind. Kidori would never do a thing like that. Would she?

I found myself eased to the outskirts of their circle, as they huddled closer to discuss the 'masked girl', then Cologne took them upstairs to look up something in her old reference books.

I saw Daisuke again as he broke free of his companions, but he had his own campaign to run. He only came over to me to gloat.

"Hey, check it out!" he crowed, "I got my own ribbon! See? It says, 'To Daisuke from Cinderella'. Cool, huh? I was at the concert when, heh, she and Primrose did a double act!"

"Yeah, sure!" I growled. I ought to know, you knucklehead! I practically had to make you eat it before you saw it!

Then he said the words which made me turn cold inside.

"This goes with my airbrushed nude Cinderella poster!" No, no. Those weren't the words which brought me the most grief. Well, they made me want to throttle him, but then he also said, "Where's yours?"

"Mine?" I wondered. "Should I want a length of blue fabric with some dumb words scribbled on it?"

"Sure! Everybody got one! Didn't you, of all people? I'm surprised!"

I had souvenirs from all my favorite artists. My collection was complete, up until the day that Cinderella came to town, and now it was flawed. I had a reputation to uphold. I had to have my own ribbon, and as Cinderella, I could not snap one out!

Oh, I had tried. I could not produce a ribbon for myself. At first I told myself that I had no need for it, it was only a gimmick. It would be the same as saying, 'From myself to myself.' After a while it had become an obsession. Someday, Cinderella would go away. There would never be a blue ribbon inscribed, 'To Hiroshi from Cinderella.'

But I had snapped one out for Daisuke. I looked him in the eye and threw a ribbon straight at his face. "I was at the concert!" I answered, "Don't you remember?"

"No, I don't recall seeing you anywhere," he said, blinking as if he had something in his eye.

"On the stage, Dumbass!"

"No kidding? You weren't on stage! That was one hot show! But I only saw Primrose and Cinderella!"

I grabbed his collar and growled down at him, "Didn't I tell you about me and Cinderella?"

With uncertainty clouding his eyes, he shook his head. I watched as his eyes shifted and he appeared to be debating something with himself. He came to a decision. "Man, you never said anything!"

"Oh, hell," I hissed. "You forgot?"

"No, I didn't. You are being awfully secretive, lately, Hiroshi. Is there something you aren't telling me?" He seemed to get something in his other eye, blinking and winking outrageously.

It was a minute before I could draw a breath. When I did, I said, "You idiot!"

"Takes one to know one," he agreed cheerfully, turning back to his appreciative, though long-suffering, female audience.

It was then I remembered. I had wished that he could forget it, and apparently, he had.

Maybe it was a good thing, not having that information rattling around unprotected. I listened to Dai enthrall his audience, expounding on his knowledge of the great baseball players and what he thought of romantic movies, like 'Matrix' and 'Perfect Storm'. Yuki and Niko were both looking weary.

Yep. Definitely a good thing.

I got to wondering. What safeguards did the wish have to keep me from exposing myself? In a figurative manner, that is. There were subtleties to this condition that I had to learn more about. Nabiki stood to lose a lot of money if she told - a powerful persuasive technique, although I shuddered to think what kind of pictures she would expect to take at the 'sessions'. Hainoko knew. Would she remember? Daisuke knew about my secret, but he seemed to have forgotten what I had told him after I had wished. Who else could I tell? Could I shout it out, here in the Cat Cafe, assured that all the customers would forget by the next morning? Somehow, my confidence ran away like water when I considered it.

Why had I ever made such a stupid wish? Why did I want to be a 'rock star', for Kamis' sake? I counted off the reasons: 1) To meet girls? Scratch that. What good did that do when I was a girl at the time? Although, I admitted dreamily, because of the wish I had met Kidori. I sighed. Such a beautiful girl. If only she would stop trying to kill people. 2) To have a bunch of people cheering me? Scratch that. I did not care if nobody ever applauded me again. The applause was nice, though. But not worth it. 3) To get attention, to have people notice me? Right. Like I wanted that kind of attention. If I were to even whisper the triggering phrase, the magic would attract more attention than I could ever want.

I became dimly aware that Dai was telling Yuki and Kiko about his date with Cinderella. "What a wonderful life she must live!" cried Yuki, and I sneered. If only she knew. Then she said eagerly, "That would be so thrilling! I want to be a rock star, too!"

-poof-

The world looked subtly different, somehow, and I decided that it was because I was back to being Cinderella again.

Daisuke saw me immediately, his eyes venturing up and down until they lighted on my chest. I tensed, expecting him to rush forward and become a nuisance. Instead, he flung himself forward onto his face.

"I am not worthy!" he cried.

A drop of 'glow' began to trickle down my hairline.

"I have kept your secret!" Daisuke cried, "But I have had impure thoughts! I am not worthy! Forgive me! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Wow," said Ranma over my shoulder, as the rest of his gang came down the stairs. "I've never seen anyone master the 'Crouch of the White Tiger' so quickly!"

"I've never seen him so sincere!" added Akane, "But, what was he going to do with that tape measure, Cinderella-chan?"

"Err...I'm sure I don't know," I lied, hoping that she had not caught my quick glance from her bosom to mine.

It was a busy night. There were a lot of other patrons in the Cat Cafe. I felt the magic attraction kick in as their eyes began to light up. We stared at each other for a few seconds before recognition flared, and then several guys came at me.

"I want an autograph!" they demanded, "Souvenir! Soul Kiss!"

I barely made it out of there with my skin and costume intact, leaving the old ghoul, Ranma and his group, and the customers staring wide-eyed after me.

Away from the crowd at the Cat Cafe, shivering with the night air, I started walking home. Naturally, with everything else going wrong, things had to get worse.

"Blue-clad Venus!"

"Oh, great," I groaned. "Kuno. Like a moth to a flame."

"Blue Venus! You have smitten me with thy enchanted beauty! I would date with you!"

"Yeah, I am enchanted," I snarled, totally out of empathy. "It's all part of the magic. Go away!"

I should have walked away and let him expostulate. Did I? Of course not. I shoved him away from me. After all, he was assuming the stance of the 'wide-arm breast glomp' and I did NOT want to experience that, first hand. Perhaps I used too much muscle shoving him, for when he pulled himself out of the cratered wall, he seemed ecstatic.

"A challenge! I will conquer your body and your heart, and then you will date with me! Hear me, oh glorious vision! I am Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High! Undefeated Kendo Champion and rescuer of lost damsels!"

I searched for clouds, but there were none. Where did he get that thunder? By the time I looked back, he had donned a black silk hood and had drawn that wooden stick he always carried about.

"My Love! To prove that I wish my own defeat, I will blind mine eyes with this Hood of Death! Only conquer me, and you may date me!" With the silken hood covering his face, he advanced. "Strike! Strike! Strike!"

"I'm dead!" I said. He was on me before I could think, rushing me and forcing me backward. I gulped and retreated. However, a funny thing happened on the way to the slaughter. My feminine body anticipated the path of the bokken, allowed me to weave between and around the deadly thrusts.

"Heh," I said, "I forgot I had martial arts ability. I'm better than he is!" I remained complacent, easily evading Kuno, until a wild swing stung my bottom where the costume did not cover.

Brushing aside the wooden weapon, I moved through the rapid strikes as though they were forest undergrowth, to snarl into Kuno's hidden face, "Hey! That HURT, y'know!"

Kuno released the bokken, allowing it to clatter across the pavement as he ripped the concealing hood from his head. He chortled ecstatically, "You have penetrated my defenses with the ease of the stooping falcon! And now these eyes can perceive that your beauty rivals the fairest of the fair! You are - dare I say it? - as clear and desirable as the morning over the misty lake, yea, even the flowers that adorn the hanging gardens of Babylon (though of course not so fair as the loves of my life, enshrined within my strong breast). It is my wish - nay, it is my duty, to allow you to date with me!"

And with that, he glomped. I found myself in a bear hug, my breath squeezed out, my eyeballs bulging. Only by using an elbow to his throat was I able to pry myself loose.

"I. do. not. want. to. date. you!" I gasped, before Kuno grabbed me again, giving preference in his handling to the vicinity of my chest.

"Oh, the noble agony of it all!" wailed the eldest Kuno sibling, "To find this delicate flower, yearning for love, and yet I must give her up!"

"It's better in the long run, believe me," I panted, struggling free by prying his arms apart.

"To walk away, leaving her pining for my masterful touch! Oh, the cruelty of fate! Should I deprive her of her heart's desire, because I am so shallow as to be content with my present loves?"

"Oh, please do!" I gasped, somehow hauled back from near freedom.

"But hold! Is it possible to spread myself so thin as to serve all three lovely damsels?"

"No. Not really. Really, you should not!"

"Yet, could I hesitate to do this, knowing the tortured loneliness she must endure without my affection?"

"Look, you moron!" I cried, "You are already after Akane and the Pig-tailed Girl! Do you really think you can handle three girls at once?"

I thought I had him, there. Wrinkles formed on his majestic brow as Kuno considered the question. You could almost hear the arguments rumbling back and forth in the empty space between his ears, causing him no small amount of pain as he debated the morality of his actions.

"I love the noble Akane, for she attacks with the grace and power of the foraging lioness! Yet, too, I love the spirited Pig-tailed Girl, for she has cuteness and charm on her side. Could I dare to presume to impose my desires on yet another adorable Venus, this blue-ribboned girl, deserving of my attention as she may be? Oh, the agony! To hold such sway over such gentle flowers, to be saddled with such noble responsibility! I must harm none of them, but one of them is destined for loneliness, for I cannot possibly spread my noble self to nurture all three!"

He wept on with the struggle, burdened with the decision. As I tried to ease away, he debated, "Or can I? Is it possible? Can the noble Tatewake Kuno handle three girls at once?"

And shortly the answer came floating to him, sweet and clear. The corners of his mouth tugged upward as he accepted his grace and turned to embrace his destiny.

"Yes! Yes I can! Come to me, my blue-ribboned girl!"

In retrospect, I had to admit that it had been the wrong question to ask. "Listen, Kuno!" I cried, "You don't really want me! That desire is only magic! It will go away! It isn't real!"

"Tear not my heart with warnings of enchantment!" cried Kuno, "For my very soul has already been ensorcelled by your beauty! I adore thee, I love thee, O' My Blue Ribboned Venus! I would give my life for thee!"

A wave of weariness broke over me and I stumbled. Struggling free from his clutch took great effort, my strength fading as he pursued. I was cornered, unable to lift a finger to protect myself and too weak to jump to the roof above.

However, as Kuno swooped to clench me in his arms, someone stepped between us.

"Get a clue, Kuno!" she cried. "You're not wanted!"

Kuno turned to the newcomer with glad welcome in his eyes, only to be booted into the next prefecture.

I could agree with Kuno about one thing. Akane's high kick was a joy to behold.

-----------

"Really! You'd think he'd learn," Akane huffed as she helped me to my feet.

"I've had a rough night," I said as I smoothed creases from my blue jacket. "I don't know why I felt so weak. Thanks."

"Glad to help," Akane said cheerfully, then she tensed, looking beyond me. "Oh, no!" she whispered, "You have to get out of here! Can you run?"

I did not answer, for I had followed the direction of her glance. All my attention was on a lighted doorway which silhouetted the slim shapely figure of a girl, glowing at the edges with pale yellow fire. The girl's eyes emitted a dull red gleam through slits in a wooden mask.

My skin crawled with alarm, my hair stood on end, and I felt the first real fear since I had found myself alone on stage the night the madness had begun.

A booming gust of wind sent sand and leaves flying, but it was no natural gale. It was the voice of my true love, filled with an awful power as she cried, "-Cinderella! I challenge you!-"

End: Chapter Nine


	10. Monster Mine

No gerbils were harmed in the writing of this fanfic. However, some are complaining that the spotlights give them headaches.

ASHES - A Cinderella Story

Chapter Ten - Monster Mine

Threads that tie us, threads that bind  
Guide the shuttles of our mind  
Let us tap, and clog, and then  
Reel away with Chapter Ten.

BEATINGS I BEFRIEND ADORE YOU:

"-Cinderella! I challenge you!-"

Suddenly the street was too narrow. The utility poles, the trees surrounded by their tidy little borders, the stone fences beyond the walk - everything seemed to be closing in on me.

I was sore all over from Kuno's glomping, and my palms ached because I was clenching my fists so tightly. The worst pain was in my heart. Kidori was challenging me. All our friendship, all our singing and dancing together, meant nothing. She was prepared to beat the stuffing out of me.

The little voice inside my head protested that this was not Kidori. This was some monster who had taken over Primrose, was using her body but not her heart.

"-Will you fight me, Cinderella?-" The masked Primrose asked, with a plaintive note, "-I have seen how you move. You have great ability, and I yearn to match my skills with yours! You must fight! I need to have someone who can give me some competition!-"

"You are not Kidori!" I cried. "You are a warrior who is controlling her with the mask! Kidori is much too nice to hurt people! Take the mask off! You don't have to do this!"

For a moment she faltered and I caught a glimpse of a familiar expression in her eyes before she closed them and held a hand to her forehead. "Cinderella?" she wavered in a normal voice.

Then I remembered Cologne's warning, that in struggling with the mask, Kidori would fail. I blurted, "No, Kidori! Don't struggle! You'll only make it worse!" Which did I want her to do? How could she escape the mask if she did not struggle? I watched, helpless, as she fought herself.

"I can't do it!" she cried, "You have to help me, if you love me!"

"Acckk -" I froze, my blood congealing about my heart. Was she really asking Cinderella to want her? Or could she somehow see the real me, the male Hiroshi, beneath the surface? "I...lo...lo...that is, I like, you, but -"

The tension blinked away from her face and her eyes glowed redly again. "-You will fight me!-" she cried in the monster voice. "-You will fight or I will crush you where you stand!-" With that, she rushed toward me with a fist drawn back to strike.

My wish-powered abilities kicked in and time slowed, allowing me to desperately squirm out of the way, although the wind force of her missed swing sent me stumbling backward. Primrose changed direction and came after me, making me dodge and twist again.

She punched a hole in the fence with her next blow. Again she charged, this time slapping her foot down at my knees, and again I wriggled out of the way as she stomped a pothole into the street.

"-Stand and fight!-" she demanded in that booming monster voice.

"I won't!" I cried, "You are not Kidori! You are a monster! You are a cowardly monster, afraid to attack anyone but girls!"

She responded with a scream of rage, redoubling her speed and strikes. I could not get away from all of them, she was hitting so fast and hard. There were scratches on my arms and sides from near misses, and a dull ache in one hip where she had grazed me with a kick. I could not keep away from her forever. I was getting tired, and she was not slowing down at all.

"Coward!" I cried. "You are a man controlling a girl. And you can't fight guys because you are too chicken!"

"-Liar!-" she screamed. "-I am a woman! I am Kidori of the Nokimara village!-"

We were poised, she to strike, me to run, shouting insults back and forth while I caught my breath. "I don't believe you!" I cried, "You are using that mask to dominate Kidori so you can hurt innocent people!"

"-No!-" she said, lowering her voice to a mild boom. "-I am not doing this to merely hurt people! I do not attack those who are not able to defend themselves! These are my enemies, and I must overcome them, so that I might live again!-"

"But you are using Kidori's body!"

The red eyes gleamed. "-The mistress has promised!-" she said. "-When her enemies are defeated, I shall live again!-" Saying these words, she leapt forward, too fast for me to dodge, her doubled fists striking me solidly. I felt the ground leave me, I hung in the air for an eternity, and then I scraped and tumbled over the concrete until the curb stopped me.

-------------

"-Why don't you fight, damn you!-" The voice boomed distantly, somewhere far away. "-Get up!-"

I did not feel like moving. The curb was nice and comfortable, like a pillow, and I spent what little strength I had in trying to find a softer spot. Closer, I could hear another voice, pleading, and I recognized it as Kidori, saying, "Fight, please, Cinderella! Defend yourself before I have to hurt you!"

While I was down, it seemed like a good time to review what I had done wrong. To aid me in my analysis, I recalled all the tricks my father had taught me about fighting. Somehow, Pops' voice got mixed up in the noise, calling advice to me.

"Fight back, boy! What's the matter? Where's your spirit? Hit'em! Kick'em in the gonads!"

Come to think of it, Pops was never really much on the details of fighting. All he ever really taught, in the way of a technique, was to attack the other fellow's masculinity.

"Pops - " I tried to say, "She's a girl!"

Then, too, there was the other side of my father's philosophy concerning manly actions. Pops' voice came back at me with his demon's head blare, "What have I told you about hitting girls? Girls are weak, defenseless creatures! The noblest thing you can do is to protect them!"

"I can't protect her," I responded weakly. "She's kicking my butt!"

"-Fight!-" boomed the voice of the mask. "-Defend yourself, coward!-"

"Stop!" cried another voice, and I guessed it was Akane, for she lifted my head and yelled again, "Stop! Can't you see she's hurt?"

"I'm not hurt," I tried to say. "I'm just resting. Gimme a week and I'll get up."

Primrose cried, "-You stay out of this! You've already been beaten!-" With that, she pulled Akane away from me and flung her down the street.

Turning back to get me, Primrose stopped and slapped her hands over her ears, staring straight ahead. My heart lurched within my chest. It was Kidori, straining to protect me, struggling with the ghost.

I wanted to tell her not to fight, but my words caught in my throat. It looked like she was holding her own. She pulled her arms to her side and stepped back, but it was only because the ghost was recovering her strength. Her eyes glowed red again and she started forward, only to stop and contort her face in agony.

Ranma materialized between us like an exploding missile. "What have you done to Akane?" he demanded.

"I'm alright!" Akane called, from the tree she had landed in. "Don't worry about me!"

"It ain't you I'm worrying about," Ranma spoke grimly, cracking his knuckles as he faced the thing that had been Kidori.

With Ranma as a threat, the ghost regained her purpose. Primrose came at him with a bellow of hatred, striking him before he could react, knocking him onto me. We went tangled to the ground. Ranma was up and away quickly, though he delayed long enough to block a blow that was clearly intended to strike me while I was down.

I could see that things were going to get worse. Primrose had power - loads and loads of power - but she did not have speed. Ranma had speed and power. He simply had not gotten around to using the power, yet. When he started flinging chi attacks around, someone was going to get hurt. I was betting that someone would be Kidori.

"-Begone!-" the Primrose-thing bellowed, "-I get nothing from fighting you!-"

"Tough," growled Ranma. "Ya picked on my fiancee. Not that I should worry about a macho tomboy, but that does make it kinda personal."

"-Then die!-" screamed Primrose, and she struck with a thunderclap of blows that staggered Ranma, following with overhead chops which he was strained to counter.

Ranma flipped back out of the way and launched a pattern of kicks that forced her back. He still had not struck her, except in a defensive manner - 'blocking' - but the forcefulness of his defense was arguably as effective as a frontal attack.

Primrose came at him again, and this time she scored a glancing blow on his head. He repulsed her, slamming her body into a nearby building, almost demolishing the shed. I knew Ranma would not take much more before he got angry enough to really hurt her.

So, I stepped into the fight.

Baka. Double baka. Baka to the tenth power!

I know. She was a monster. Yet, I reasoned, behind that monster was my girl, and she was frightened by this fighting, and she was going to be the one to remain hurt when the mask was taken off. She might be a monster right at the moment, but she was my monster.

My muscles complained, but I kept going until I was between them. "Stop it!" I cried, and my voice was not loud enough for them to hear over their battle fury. "Stop it!" Still, they paid me no heed.

So, I tripped Ranma when he went past, unaware of my intentions.

In the split second before he could recover, Primrose leapt in to take advantage of his spill. I intercepted her and took a ringing blow to my head as she tried to get past me. There was no softness to her body. She was tensile steel, swift and strong, and I saw madness in the glowing eyes.

Then, as swiftly as she had attacked, she drew back and the glow in her eyes diminished. "Cinderella!" Kidori cried, "I am so sorry! I can't stop myself!" Then the red lambent flame returned and she came at me again.

Using a primitive turn-and-toss, I leveraged her strength against her, tumbling her into a chain-link fence, where she got tangled in the broken mesh.

Lucky moves, against her and Ranma - they were not expecting me to intervene. With the advantage of surprise lost, I stood between them and contemplated the multitude of methods of suicide I could have chosen instead of this one.

Ranma raged at me, "Get out of the way! I don't wanta hit ya, but I will if ya try to help her!"

Of course I barred his way. I could not let him past me. "She was trying to keep from killing me!" I cried, "Don't hurt her!"

I could see that he had decided to go over me by the way he moved his head to locate both me and Kidori. He saw an opening and sprang into action almost as one motion.

My mind raced as he swept toward me, leaping into the air. He was master of aerial combat, most powerful in his mid-air assaults, capable of landing many blows in the brief instant that his arc carried him past me. It occurred to me that he was also at his most vulnerable, for he had his attention on Primrose and was not expecting me to try anything. Taking advantage of this lapse, I rolled away from his reach, lashed out with a long shapely leg, and was rewarded with a solid blow to his side. Unbalanced, he hit the wall beyond me, knocked over a barrel of water, and was instantly girl.

Ranma, as a girl, was shorter than me, but that in no way diminished her determination. She came up smiling, hardly fazed by the collision with the wall. She was probably enjoying it. Meanwhile, I was in trouble. I could not use the same trick again - and all I had succeeded in doing was getting her attention. Ranma flicked a piece of concrete from her check, smiled even more grimly, and came at me again as I strove to block her.

Having decided that she could not get around me, Ranma tried to push me aside. At first I could stop her by catching her forearms and warding them off, but soon the thrusts and grabs came so rapidly I could not evade them all, and machinegun jabs battered past my guard.

It dawned on me that she was really upset. Ranma was hitting someone she thought was a girl!

Gasping, I retreated, watching for the pale yellow form. Kidori was safe for the moment, if she would only get away. Instead, she stood spraddle-legged in the center of the street, screaming and struggling with the mask. Finally she stopped, gave me one long last look, and fled.

I was elated. Ranma might batter me within an inch of my life, but Kidori was safe. Her eyes were no longer gleaming red.

"Com'on!" Ranma growled at me, "Let's finish this!" She readied her stance.

I sagged to the pavement, presenting myself before her, unprotected and vulnerable. "I quit," I said.

"What?"

"I was only trying to protect Kidori," I explained.

She nearly exploded. She clenched her fists, the tendons in her neck strained like wires with wanting to fight, but she overcame the urge. "You were trying to protect that? After she tried to kill you?"

"She couldn't help herself. Besides, I lo...lo...like her."

That brought Ranma upright. "Don't tell me yer troubles," she growled. "Ya better get outta here and go home, where-ever that is. I ain't exactly happy with you, y'know."

"I tell you, I could not let you hurt Kidori. I had to protect her."

"Hmmph. Y'sound like someone else I know. He likes her, too."

"Yeah, I do," I sighed. "I guess I do."

Ranma was well versed in the mental disciplines, at least as far as they applied to fighting. She looked at me more closely this time, using more than her conventional eyesight. "Y'remind me of...Hiroshi?"

"Hi."

"Dang! Hiroshi? Really?"

"Yep," I said, studying the pavement. "I am your old pal, Hiroshi. I can tell you this and you won't remember a thing about it, tomorrow. I wish you would forget it."

Ranma harrumphed in appreciation. "How'ja do that?"

"Long story. It was magic. I made a wish. The rest is obvious. And I'd rather not talk about it."

She sat beside me on the pavement, having caught her breath, and said, "Man, this is weird."

I raised a shapely eyebrow. "Look who's talking."

"I never thought I'd be fightin' you!" she grimaced. "Nice scrimmage, by the way. Had me goin'. Where'd ya learn that?"

I shrugged again. "Magic."

"All of it?"

"Everything better than Primrose." I sighed, "Except maybe when she had that mask on."

She scratched her chin. "Yeah. That is one bad-ass mask. I could feel the chi rolling off it. Maybe the old ghoul was right, and it really is a haunted mask. I gotta tell ya, though, that hadta been one cold-hearted bastard that made that thing."

"That was what I felt," I shuddered. "But it was a female ghost. She's made a promise to some fiend and she intends to take over Kidori's body when she fulfills that promise. It's going to devour her. I have to save her!"

"I knew there was something going on when you stepped in to protect her at Ucchan's. Did you see her aura?"

I looked, and Ranma's aura was gleaming blue. "That night, you and Ukyo were yellow and Akane was blue."

"What color was Kidori's?" she prompted.

I gasped, remembering clearly, "There was none! She didn't have an aura!"

"Actually, she did. But it was so faint I could barely see it," Ranma said softly, her face grim.

"Ranma!" cried Akane as she ran up to us. "Are you okay? Did she hurt you?"

"Whatcha think I am?" snarled Ranma. "What could a girl do to me?"

"I was worried, you jerk!"

"Well, quit it. I wasn't having no trouble!"

"Okay, then, why were you fighting with Cinderella? She was only trying to help!"

Ranma glanced at me and snorted, "Yeah. Right."

"We were only sparring," I said, brightly, trying to defuse the situation and maybe lower the pressure. It did not work. Somewhere there was a steam valve that seemed to have been left open. The hissing became a roar until it hurt my ears.

"Ranma!" Akane boiled over, "How dare you spar with her when you won't spar with me!"

"W...what!" Ranma sputtered. "For your information, I was not sparring with..." she stopped to remove the park bench Akane had balanced rather forcefully on her head. "It was a fair fight! Cinderella got in the way!"

"I am not interested in your excuses!" Akane sniffed, taking my arm. "Come along, Cinderella-chan, we're leaving. And as for you! Until you learn to treat us girls equally, you can walk to school by yourself!"

As Ranma's jaw hung open, I leaned behind Akane's back, caught Ranma's eye and waggled my brows. I mouthed the words, "Us girls?"

Ranma got tickled, which angered Akane, which tickled Ranma even more. When I left, Ranma was guffawing and Akane was chasing her around and hitting her with whatever she could get her hands on.

LOKI:

As the girl in yellow ran away, two figures emerged from the shadows. They remained unseen and unheard by the youths in the street.

"I don't see how this is going to work," the platinum haired one spoke.

"Leave it to me. I am good at this sort of thing, I must say."

"Loki-baby, I can't tell you how warm and secure that makes me feel. It was your meddling that caused it, in the first place."

The second person twisted his mouth to say, "The bead-counters caused it! Insisting that everything be set back to perfect! Dot every 'i', cross every 't'." In a nasal, whining voice he added, "'You mustn't upset the order of the universe!' Bah! Bead-counters!"

He turned to his companion, "It's all your fault! Because you blabbed, I found myself standing tall before Kami-sama, Himself, while he did a parade ground inspection on me. He criticized me. Me! In front of everyone!"

"Really?" the platinum haired goddess chuckled, "How many demerits?"

"Two. Smudge on my left ankle bracer and a gravy stain on my best bear-skin jacket. What would you expect? I didn't know I was going to be called in front of Him." The speaker chewed his lip absently, remembering. "I hate it when He is in one of those moods."

HIROSHI:

After the fight I found myself farther from home. My way back took me past the front of the Cat Cafe, where I met Shampoo.

"Great-grandmama very surprised to see you," Shampoo said, the expression in her eyes one of curiosity and wariness. "She call you 'tool of the gods.' You explain to Shampoo?"

"Can't," I replied, trying to get past her on the sidewalk. She blocked my way. She was silken curves, long hair and big eyes, and if I had been in another shape I would have been panting to have her pay this much attention to me. Right now I was tired, tired and sore from being pawed by Kuno and beaten on by Primrose and Ranma. All I wanted was to get home.

"She not say Shampoo could not fight new girl. Maybe we practice? You show move you use on Shampoo other night." She produced bonbori and moved casually into a ready stance.

"Look, are you still upset about that? I was only trying to keep you from doing something stupid!"

Anger flared in those huge, dreamy eyes. "You call Shampoo stupid? Maybe Shampoo remember Amazon law about Kiss of Death!"

"No! It's not like that! I couldn't let you beat Kidori up! She was - " I stopped, feeling the soreness in my muscles. Kidori was a victim, but she was not innocent. "It was a mistake! You saw her! She was not ready to fight!"

"Shampoo ready to fight now! We see who stupid!" She rushed me, weaving deadly patterns with heavy bonbori, until she came close enough for me to push her back. After this, she dusted herself off, recovered her weapons, and shook her head dazedly.

Having decided that I was more of a threat than she had anticipated, Shampoo became more cautious, feinting high and low with her bonbori, trying to provoke me into responding. I watched her without reacting. For once, my ignorance aided me, for she was moving too fast for me to follow.

Suddenly, she backed off, gazing beyond me.

I was puzzled. Was there someone behind me? Was this just a trick to get me to look? Taking a chance, I turned around, to find I was staring into lenses several centimeters thick. At the same time my arms were pinned to my side while my ears were treated to a howl of delirious joy.

"Fear not, my dear Shampoo! I shall protect you from this incredibly evil masked girl! You are safe in my arms! Oh, Shampoo! To hold you at last!"

"You are holding the wrong one, Jerk!" I shifted my feet, rotated, and he wound up head down in the Cat Cafe trash bin. Aware that I had left myself wide open to an attack from Shampoo, I whirled about to face her. She stood there, mouth set in a long-suffering grimace, again looking beyond me. What could she be seeing this time? I had dealt with Mousse. Or so I had expected, but I had not counted on his resilience.

"So, you are the foul, masked creature who would dare attack my darling Shampoo? Die!" Mousse bellowed as he opened the gates of adversity. He produced from beneath his clothing a variety of chained, wired, barbed, and generally sharp items which he proceeded to fling in my direction. I was too busy dodging to do anything creative until the blizzard of hardware let up, and then I did what I always do best. I fled.

--------------

On the sidewalk near my home, I practically stumbled over a huddled blob of humanity, sitting on the curb and holding his hands cupped before him in deep meditation. It was Basho.

"What are you doing here, this late at night?" I stopped to ask.

"Ah, the companion of the unfortunate one. Another responsibility," Basho sighed. He blinked up at me, his heavy-lidded eyes peering through me as if I were transparent glass, seeing right through my change in appearance.

"I seek the ultimate truth," he explained. "It lies almost within my grasp, a pebble to be plucked from the beach, a handful of Jell-O awash in the tide, almost to be discerned. But so terribly elusive."

"Sure, sure," I said, plopping down onto the curb beside him, elbows on knees, chin in hand, feeling the cool of the concrete upon bare skin. "I seek that all the time myself. Unspell any more trees?"

He shrugged. "The demoness seems to have decided to pursue directly."

"Yeah. I know," I made a face. "Talk about ugly..."

Basho took a closer look at me and asked, "But, why are you a girl?"

"I made a wish," I explained.

Raised eyebrows. "That much is obvious."

"I wanted to be famous. Now, whenever I say the words, 'I want to be a rock star,' this happens. In fact," I added, my voice growing shrill in anger, "Whenever anyone says that, I change into a girl. I am at the mercy of complete strangers! And everyone wants to fight me!"

Basho twisted his mouth into a sympathetic frown. "Perhaps I can help," he said.

"Right. Go ahead," I stood, having thought of a place where I might find Kidori. "Give it your best shot."

---------------

I knocked on the doors and looked in the windows, but Kidori was not at the practice hall.

So, I gloomed back home and slipped in the front door, unseen, while Mom was in the kitchen fixing supper. She was humming lines from her favorite opera as she cleaned vegetables. Pops was bumbling around, trying to help and getting in the way. When she told him he was doing a good job he strutted like a game hen. I didn't get it. Had he already forgotten how sick she was?

I locked the door and sat cross-legged on my bed, waiting for the wish to wear off. I was whiling away the time by popping blue ribbons into existence when the door slid open and the weasel came in. Oddly enough, I didn't mind the intrusion. I snapped out another ribbon and she caught it.

"Oh, look!" she squealed, "This has words on it! 'Cinderella loves...'" Her eyes grew very round. With tears brimming, she turned to me. "Oh, Cin-chan! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Hey, Shrimp," I said, feeling like a small animal in the fast lane of a freeway, "It's me! Hiroshi! All I did was snap out a ribbon, no big deal!"

Hainoko slammed into me with a bonecreaking hug. "It is to me!" she said in a muffled squeak, "Thanks, Hiroshi. I will treasure it forever!"

"Uhh, yeah, whatever. Easy on the arm, there. I'm kinda sore."

I extricated myself and checked the door again. Locked. How did she get in? When I looked at Hainoko, she smiled innocently.

"Mommy and Daddy were looking this way. I think they heard you moving around," she explained. "If you'll give me another ribbon, I'll go keep them busy until you can change back." She slipped out the door, clutching her two ribbons tightly as if they were precious.

I shook my head, wondering about little sisters. She was more excited about a couple of strips of fabric than she would have been about a new video game. I picked up the glossy ribbons that I had snapped out earlier. Blank. Sighing, I snapped out a few more.

-----------------

I had a dream that night. I don't usually dream, or at least I don't usually remember my dreams. Except for the good ones, but Pops always says that 'men are supposed to dream that sort of stuff. It shows that they are manly in their desires.'

But this dream was, well, peculiar.

Now, I like the old samurai movies, where armies clash and brave warriors battle with swords all over the place. This dream was sort of like that. There were soldiers, and there were men in armor, and there was mounted cavalry. They weren't swordfighting, however. Some of the men on foot were wearing farmer's clothing and they were fighting with hoes, rakes, billhooks, and scythes. The men with swords were chopping about as if they were in a slaughterhouse. No swordplay, just plain cold and efficient butchery.

At first I could see none of this, since I was enjoying the sight of clouds floating above in a brilliant blue sky. I could hear the sounds of battle, the screams and cries of combat, and the distinct noise of sharp blades cleaving bamboo armor...and other things. Then someone stepped on me. No pain, only pressure. After this, I rolled over onto my side to see the battle, but it soon drifted away.

Someone called a name, "Haji!"

Since I knew no Haji, I contented myself with measuring the beat of my heart. It seemed to be slowing down, while my clothing felt sticky and wet.

The someone came closer. It was a girl, and she screamed, "Haji!" again, just before she clutched me against her. I did not mind, for I had noticed that it was Kidori, and she felt warm and comforting. "Haji!" she cried, one more time, "They have killed you!"

Wup. Bummer. Must be one of those floating type dreams.

"They will pay!" she cried, and she pulled a sword from beneath me, where I had been lying on it. No wonder I was uncomfortable. "I will avenge you!"

I opened my mouth to protest. I did not need avenging. I was quite comfortable where I lay. Except that I was very weak. Barely able to move. Being weak was not good. In fact, being weak was tantamount to saying that I was not a man. Kidori was going to fight my battle, because I was too weak. The tears of my shame burned down my face like molten lead, because I was a weakling. It was all I could do to pull myself into a position to see what was happening.

Kidori faced a man, and they fought. The man swung his sword like a meat cleaver, and Kidori's armor shredded. When she met his blade with hers, she had to give ground.

My eyes greyed for a moment. When I could see again, Kidori was gone and the warrior stood still, savoring his victory.

"Aaaiiiii!" I awoke in a cocoon of horror. Kidori was dead, and I had been too weak to make a difference.

"Hiroshi-chan! Is anything the matter?" Mom could make it from her room to anywhere in the house in a split-second, in the darkest of pitch-black night. She held a cool palm against my forehead as Pops straggled into my room, switching on the light as he entered.

"I'm fine, Mom," I protested. "Just a bad dream. Nothing to worry about."

"My baby! Where did you get those bruises and scratches?"

"Huh?" I thought fast. "It was nothing, Mom! I fell down in soccer practice! It doesn't hurt, really it doesn't!"

Pops gave Mom 'that' look, and Mom turned pale. She said, "Go back to sleep, Hiroshi-chan. Leave the light on."

"Mom, I'm not a kid."

"Please? For me?"

"Oh, all right."

"Are you sure it doesn't hurt?"

"No, Mom. It's only a few scratches. Happens all the time to us manly guys."

End: Chapter Ten


	11. I Shall Punish You!

Disclaimer: A statement has been issued to the effect that no gerbils have been harmed in the writing of this fanfic, pending the insurance company determination of responsibility for bungee-jumping on studio property.

ASHES - A Cinderella Story

Chapter Eleven - I Will Punish You!

Raging heart prepared to die  
Hate looms large against the sky  
In the shadows, dancers sway  
Chapter Eleven is on its way.

LOKI:

She glared across the clearing at her opponent, a handsome, stalwart warrior too tough for her to defeat easily. He was wearing her down, eroding her armor with his heavier blade, weakening her own blade with nicks and scars from repeated slashes. He was smiling, confident that in the end, which might come soon, he would beat her into the ground.

His gaze was scornful, the haughty sneer of a lowland knight raised and groomed, trained by the best, equipped with the most extravagent weaponry, while she wore borrowed armor and had a light blade made for speed and subtlety, not face-to-face hacking. To protect his pretty face he carried a battle mask. She saw him raise his mask and begin a quick prayer for the final onslaught.

"He's going to kill you, you know. After he finishes playing with you."

She spun around to see a small, wiry man, his pelt too light to be Ainu, squatted in the shadows by the tomb. Her analysis of the stranger was swift and thorough, after which she turned back toward her true opponent. The stranger was harmless. Presumptious, but harmless.

"I will die with honor," she retorted to the ground beside her. "I am not afraid."

"You don't have to die at all," the little man approached, his eyes on the warrior across the scree. "There is a way to focus your spirit so that you will be unbeatable." Disdainfully indicating her opponent with a shrug of his chin, he added, "This guy is a prick. No manners. He's so sure that he'll win that he threw his victory celebration last night. Nice party. I think I could learn to like that stuff you make with rice. Not much taste, knocks you on your butt, but no hangover. And then he threw me out. Me! He doesn't even believe in luck and chance!"

Birdsong had stilled and even the whispering leaves were silent. Her opponent seemed to have stopped moving, halfway to his feet, knees locked in an angle which could become eventually painful.

"Why would you help me?" she demanded, pointing her blade toward the little man when he came closer.

"Whoa! Careful with that pigsticker!" he said, seeming more amused than frightened by her gesture. "Fact is, yon prince is arrogant, conceited, boring, and in bad need of a lesson in humility. I merely want to make him look bad, and you present the perfect opportunity. Look at you. Young, pretty, and a girl, to boot. If he survives, he will never live it down!" The little man's face clouded over, and he spoke with quiet anger, "The bastard told me to get out. No place for me, he said. Time for payback, I say!"

She lifted the sword tip to his chin and he ignored it. He met her eyes, his stormy gray to her stormy brown. Neither blinked.

"So," she hissed, "How do I beat him?"

"Glad you asked, I must admit. You see that face armor he is wearing? Scary. We'll just whip up one for you that'll make you even scarier. Just remember to take it off as soon as you are through with it. It will drain all your strength, if you wear it too long."

"What do I do with it, then?"

"It does not matter. Throw it away, if you wish. It was intended for one use only."

The warrior across the clearing was beginning to move, as if he were a wax figure melting forward into a step toward her. Her eyes went from the warrior to the stranger, and she said, "Still, I do not trust you."

"What's to trust?" the little man lifted his shoulders in a shrug, a gesture which rippled power, quickly hidden, across his body. "Either he kills you, or it kills you. Not much of a choice, I must say. But look at it my way...he will pay for what he did to your lover."

"He was not my lover! He was. He was my friend!" Anger battled with grief upon her face. Anger won, and she snarled, "Give me that!"

She pulled the mask over her face, tied the strings behind her head. Once, she staggered, as she became aware of the power, then she turned toward her enemy. The enemy who had slain her...friend. The enemy, she suddenly knew with all her heart, who was about to die.

The stranger beside her watched the play of thoughts across her face, a gleam of satisfaction stealing across his face.

"Oh, yes," he sang, "Time for payback, says I!"

AT THE PLAYGROUND:

The next morning, Hainoko twisted Mom around her finger and I found myself walking her to school. Mom had made a big breakfast - far more than we could eat, even if we were hungry - and she agreed with everything Hainoko said. It was the principle of the thing that bothered me - they didn't even ask me.

I was about to object when I was hit with a wave of dizziness that almost made me pass out. As I grabbed the edge of the table, Mom and Pops exchanged fearful glances, and Pops grabbed his coat and left. He didn't even say goodbye.

I wouldn't have minded taking Hainoko to school, if she had only asked. For one thing, she had not been her usual bratty self since last night. It was enough to make me wonder if aliens had actually taken her away and substituted a normal kid in her place.

Looking back, I guess I should have been suspicious, but I was too buried in my own problems to pay attention. Hainoko had been chattering away about first one thing and then another, when she looked up and yelped, "What's that?"

A dust devil whirled up the street, heading straight for me. Ducking did no good, because when I backed away it came after me. In an instant I was surrounded by tickling air currents, bits of paper, and tiny leaves from the shrubbery. We both laughed, and I felt good about my sister. She was kind of fun, after you got over her whininess.

Suddenly she grew quiet and I realized that we had arrived at her schoolyard. As she looked about apprehensively, I saw a young boy about her age watching her. Supposing that he might be the cause of her unease, I said, "Hey, Hainoko. Someone you know?"

Hainoko saw the boy start toward us. She thrust her nose into the air, saying, "Don't notice him. He's always picking on me."

"Oh. I thought you had friends here at school."

"Not many. Noriko was my friend, but that's all."

"No boy friends, huh?"

"He is NOT my boyfriend!"

"Uhhuh. What does he do that is so bad?"

"He picks on me all the time! He calls me names! He starts fights and gets me in trouble."

"I'll go have a word with him," I said, trying to stand taller and look intimidating, and I noticed that the boy had stopped, warily.

"No!" she blurted, "I mean, leave him alone. He's not doing anything right now." Then she froze, her face pale, facing the main schoolyard where her true terror arose.

"We've been waiting for you!" Two girls, carbon copies of each other, oozed out from behind the bushes and blocked our path. One of them shouted over her shoulder, "Tengu! Matsoyuro!"

Two of the biggest bruisers I had ever seen shoved onto the playground. They looked like tanks wearing flowered shirts.

"Ah..." I said, the first statement of a brilliant effort in ambassadorial pontification. "Who are these guys?"

Hainoko burst into the tight circle made by me, the twins, and the two tanks. "That's not fair!" she cried, "Those aren't your real brothers!"

"They are while they are on our mother's payroll," sneered the closest twin. "They're going to beat you up!"

I have always held that there are two prime reactions to danger: a) run like heck. b) try to talk my way out of it. Grovel, if necessary.

Suddenly, I discovered that there was a third response: c) anger.

The voices in my head were silent. They were smart. They had taken option a) at the first sign of trouble, so I had no one to talk me out of c).

"Let's go, Big Brother!" Hainoko tugged at my sleeve, and I resisted. I don't know why. Maybe it was the first time she had called me 'big brother' as if she really meant it. Maybe I had spent too much time in a skimpy costume in front of an audience, with the full confidence of magical sparring ability to back me up. Maybe it was the curled lip of the nearest of the two tracked vehicles - scratch that - make that man-mountains - that made me stay.

"Not yet," I told Hainoko. I faced the nearest 'big brother'. He looked massive, mean, but slow. Maybe he was as slow as he looked. I could not hurt him, but I could stay out of his way. I hoped.

"Matchstick," he spoke, with the simplicity and audacity of a child, without elaboration.

"?" I answered. I am known for my eloquence.

He pointed. "You matchstick. I break." He drew a drinking straw from a stolen bento and demonstrated.

"Oh, wow!" the first twin exulted.

"Wasn't that a plastic straw?" the second twin asked in awed tones. "Are they supposed to shatter? I thought they bent."

"Bend you," promised the 'big brother'.

The second large fellow stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Matsoyuro, and my friend is Tengu. I wish to assure you that we hold no personal hostility toward you at all. Please forgive us for the damage which we are about to commit to your body."

"Hey!" I said, "Maybe I can talk to you. You sound smarter than your friend!"

"Oh, not at all. He is very well educated. He has two degrees - one in engineering and another in language. He and I are only doing this because we are taking a mail-order course in sumo wrestling, and we have to pay for the next installment, someway. Although," he nodded toward his partner, who was stomping play-demons away from a circle drawn in the playground, "confidentially, I think he does this because he enjoys breaking things. It is like a hobby with him."

"Then why does he talk that way? He sounds dumb!"

He indicated the way his partner was flexing muscles on top of muscles and asked, "Are you going to be the one who tells him he is acting like an idiot?"

"Yeesh," I said through gritted teeth, "I don't think so. I'll let someone else tell him for me." I could wait no longer. Time to call in the muscle. No one would remember what I became, because the wish would make them forget. I said softly, "I want to be a rock star," and waited for the 'poof'.

And waited.

"You gonna wish you were star," the first giant predicted. "Break rock. Break star."

I backed away from his first clumsy swing, but without the grace I had expected. I was still me, male body and school uniform. The wish had not worked! What had gone wrong? I knew it had been two hours since the last time!

It was then that I saw Basho, hurrying up to the crowd of onlookers. He had a broad smile on his face, and when he saw me he gave me the sign of victory, both hands clasped over his head. "I got rid of the trigger!" he called.

"Now? Could I borrow it back?" I asked, barely dodging a blow that would have smithereened me. "I'm in a tight spot, here!"

"Something else has come up!" Basho said, striding out onto the battlefield - er - playground. "You must come with me! It is urgent!"

"Could it wait? I'm trying to keep from getting killed right now!" The giant's swings were getting closer...he was finding my range. Apparently he was more accustomed to trading blows with oxen or elephants than with someone my size. Meanwhile, his partner, only a few hundred kilos lighter, was trying to edge around behind me, with all the stealth of a bulldozer. If I dodged into him I would be instant roadkill. Belatedly, I began to wish that I had listened to Hainoko.

"It is very important!" Basho insisted. He stopped between me and giant number two, waving his hands about to urge me to go with him. One arm brushed the giant's face, there was a whipcrack sound, and the giant fell to earth, howling and holding his nose. The other giant went to his aid with a handkerchief to squelch the bleeding and I followed Basho, since everyone seemed to be ignoring me.

"Told you to run," grumbled Hainoko, as she hurried along with us.

"Oh, my," Basho panted as he increased his pace. "We must hurry to your home, if we are to stop your family!"

"Wait a minute! What has my family got to do with it?"

"Your parents became alarmed because they kept hearing a girl's voice in your room, and you could not explain where you got your scratches and bruises. They decided it was a ghost and they have called for a priest to exorcise it, and you."

"What's wrong with that?" I gasped as we ran, he with surprising agility for someone in a hassock. I learned how they do it - they picked up the hem on both sides, bared their legs, and ran. It made for some interested stares from bystanders, particularly the women. I tried to shield Hainoko's eyes, but it was difficult to do while running. Fortunately she was behind so I could stay between them.

"You don't understand!" he said between breaths, "This is a wish, not a curse. If the priest attempts to drive out the spirits, the results cannot be predicted. I am afraid something terrible will happen!"

"Oh, yeah? Like what? Am I going to turn into a love-robot or something?"

-poof-

I discovered that my voice had risen and I was running much more gracefully, though my chest seemed to be bobbling with the rhythm.

"They may generate more triggers," Basho explained as he stopped to wheeze. I stopped with him, feeling hardly winded. He glanced over at me and sighed, "I think we may be too late!"

"Hiroshi, your clothes are different!" Hainoko remarked excitedly. I looked to see what she was clamoring about. Instead of the traditional blue mini-dress with jacket and tails, I was wearing tight blue gym shorts, a cotton tee-shirt with a big blue ideogram saying 'Strong Love' on it, and crystal blue running shoes. Different, yes. But definitely girl-type.

"I'm not dressed in my a rock star outfit!"

"I like this one!" Hainoko chirped.

"We'd better hurry on home, before something else bad happens," I said in a melodious voice, as though I were happy at the prospect.

"Never mind," Basho flopped down onto the ground. "It's over. The priest must have already finished. I am too late!"

"But, what happened?" I was remembering the unusual things that had happened this morning: the dizziness at the breakfast table and the whirlwind on the way to school.

"I managed to eliminate the trigger you had been using. You will no longer turn into a girl when someone says the words, 'I want to be a rock star.' However..."

I tried to digest what he was telling me. It did not set well on my stomach. "...However?"

"I used a spell to modify the wish mechanism, so that when you said the phrase 'I want to be a rock star', it would hear so many other phrases that it could not respond to all of them. In trying to exorcise an evil spirit, the priest has strengthened the wish, given it more power, so that it can respond to all of the phrases. Now, instead of that one trigger, there will be many more triggers. Almost anything could cause you to turn into a girl," Basho bowed abjectly, a frown of misery on his face. "I know how badly you hated the thought. Please accept my apology for my failure."

"Actually..." I was thinking. How was I to help Kidori if I lost my ability to fight?

"But I want him to turn into Cinderella!" squeaked Hainoko, "I need him to help me!"

"I must remove the new triggers, one by one," Basho said as he stood and headed away. He called over his shoulder, "It would help if you let me know which ones make your wish work."

"Why don't you simply go down the list?"

"I used a lot of words. I don't know which combinations are effective."

"You can start with 'love-robot'," I suggested. "But take your time."

He looked back in horror. "Love-robot? Was that what you said, back there?"

"Never mind. You don't watch those kind of shows." I was remembering my ungraceful retreat from the two behemoths, and something smoldered within my heart. Hiroshi had run away. Hiroshi always ran away. But I was not only Hiroshi. Right now, I was something more. I might lose Cinderella tomorrow, but for the moment...

"We are going to be late for class," I announced.

Hainoko answered, glumly, "Okay. I better hurry, then."

"No, no!" I held her back. "I said, we are going to be late for class. Deliberately. On purpose. After all, I can't go to my classes looking like this..." I twinkled cheerfully into a kawaii pose, then added with a cute growl, "...and besides, I have an appointment."

The sun came up on Hainoko's face, and she glowed with anticipation. "Oh, boy!" she squeaked.

Thus it was that the sun was at our backs when Hainoko and I strode into the school grounds, surprising the twins and their 'big brothers' as they pursued their extortion game.

"I am Cinderella!" I bellowed, with all the fearsome soprano roar that my small frame and cuteness could project, "Honest and decent people should not fear bullies who hit and steal from them! In the name of all fairy tales with happy endings, I shall punish you!"

Tank1 and Tank2 merely gazed mildly at me. Tank1 bit off the end of a fence post and munched it, unimpressed. They were not afraid. I restrained a chuckle. They would be. I hoped. They started toward me again, side-by-side.

Right where I wanted them.

As I cartwheeled between them, Matsoyuro tried to grab me. He moved unbelievably fast for a tank. I hit his forearm with the flat of my hand, causing a sonic boom -crack- that must have shattered windows, turning the entire side of his arm bright red from the shock. As he withdrew his hand to determine the cause of the pain, I followed after with a double-barreled kick to his steam shovel jaw.

Tengu was coming after me, so I used the momentum from the jaw kick to propel myself toward him. I landed in the middle of his broad belly with my feet, where I danced a rapid fandango on pressure points.

"Y'know, this has been a most enlightening experience," said Tengu. He reeled and collapsed against Matsoyuro. They sat back to back, holding their hurts and moaning.

While they were still dazed and not in the mood for more exercise, I turned to the twins. They were suddenly very nervous as I loomed over them.

"As for you..."

"That one is Dierdre," supplied Hainoko.

"You, Dierdre, and you..."

"She's Dierdrum."

"They look the same to me. How do you tell them apart?"

"Dierdrum is sneakier, and Dierdre is meaner."

"Oh. Okay. Now, about my sister..." I began.

"You're her big sister?" Dierdre/Dierdrum gasped.

"Brother," I corrected them, but they paid no attention. They had both fainted.

Hainoko reached up to hug me about the waist as I walked her to her class in the school building.

"Thanks, Big Brother," she chirped. "I knew I could count on you."

"Hold on. Did you know they were going to start a fight?"

She dropped her gaze. "Well, yes. Sorta."

"Why didn't you tell me? I could have gotten killed!"

"But you didn't! I knew you could take care of yourelf while you were Cinderella!"

"I almost didn't get to change! They were going to beat me up! What if Basho had not helped? I was in trouble, back there!"

Her reply was a faint, "I'm sorry."

"That's not good enough! Come on, I'm taking you to your class. You're dangerous! Why didn't you tell me something was going on?"

"I was afraid you'd leave me alone at the front gate like you always do!" She glared at my back all the way through the front doors.

I should have known she'd do something sneaky, like that. Where had I gotten the idea that she had changed? I didn't abandon her at the front gate every time.

The halls of her school brought back memories of my own early school years. Echoing stillness, as we walked down empty corridors, with murmurs behind closed doors. A bulletin board, framed with crude efforts at artwork. Small drinking fountains that I would have to stoop to use. Teachers peering out with professional interest at passersby.

I was still fuming as I left her at the door to her classroom. A voice called me back from my stormy exit.

"Young lady!"

Hainoko slipped into her room past the stern woman who had addressed me. The teacher was only a few years older than I, but to Hainoko she must have seemed ancient. I bobbed a quick bow, in deference to her status, and she pulled me aside, after assuring that her students were not going to overhear. She said to me in a firm voice, "Are you really Cinderella?"

"Actually, I am really..." I started to say, but she cut me off.

She gushed, "I am so glad! I found this poster abandoned in the locker area earlier, and since you are my favorite star, would you please autograph it for me and my class? I'm your biggest fan, here at this school!"

"Sure!" I said, eager to get out of there. I had to go hide somewhere until the wish wore off. I used a marker pen to scribble, 'To Hainoko's favorite teacher, Miss...'

"Yamato," she beamed. "But please, make it to 'Oyu'!"

I did, and signed several more autographs on newsprint and construction paper for alert teachers who had spotted me entering the building. One teacher wanted me to speak to her class on the need for proper diction while singing, and several pressed me to accept mementos with the school name on them, crafted by their students. I left bearing an armload of handmade presents while Hainoko managed a woeful smile and the bully twins glowered out of their corner.

The warm glow accompanied me all the way to the front entrance, where I saw the clock. I remembered that I had my own school to attend, and I was very late. I would be even later before the wish wore off.

My steps were heavy as I made my way to Furinkan, thinking, She had no right accusing me of being irresponsible. I plodded on, finding it hard to catch a whole breath. I did NOT abandon her at the front gate every time. Not every time. I know I didn't.

--------------

For a little kid, Miss Hinako was alert. She caught me before I was two steps inside the classroom.

The hallway was quiet, though, so I could let my mind wander back over the morning. Oddly enough, the first thing I thought about was the loss of my magic phrase. I could not believe I actually missed it. When I whispered, 'I want to be a rock star,' nothing happened, and I felt let down.

"Man!" I muttered, "Talk about mixed emotions!" At least I did not have to worry about someone else poofing me into Cinderella with that phrase. It was gone, forever, to be replaced with 'Love-robot', which had caused Cinderella to appear dressed in jogging gear. At least until Basho cancelled it.

That, in my mind, may have been an improvement over the coat and mini-skirt, but just when I decided that I was not brave enough to try the new phrase, 'love robot' here in the hallway, it occurred to me that Basho had said 'many more triggers'. Which meant that there were thousands of combinations of words out there, waiting to trap me. The one comforting thought was that, if I were exposed, the wish made people forget about my secret. This confidence lasted until the bell rang for lunch.

"Yo, Hiroshi!" Ranma greeted me, as I stood groaning with the weight of two water buckets, "What did you mean, 'I wouldn't remember?'"

He left me staring after him in shock. He had not forgotten.

I am an idiot, I blithered to myself. Belatedly, I recalled what Daisuke had said at the Cat Cafe, babbling as he prostrated himself before Cinderella. He had said, 'I have kept your secret,' but I had not been listening. With a sinking sensation, I realized that I could have revealed my secret to everyone at Hainoko's school, trusting in the wish to protect my identity, when it obviously did not. Suddenly, the hallway felt very large, cold and ominous.

"What'cha doin' out here?" Miss Hinako popped out of the classroom to ask. "Oh, yeah. You were a bad boy. You were late for class. Well, you can put those buckets away, now. Don't forget, we have assembly after lunch...did your Mom send any of those sweet apple dumplings for desert?"

--------------

The assembly that day was both good and bad. The good was that I found another phrase for Basho to eliminate. The bad was the way that this discovery came about.

Principal Kuno had asked for volunteers to sing his new school song, and when none had come forth, he turned the program over to a person from the legal aid society. I was sitting in the auditorium with a group of other students, listening to the speaker drone on about our rights under the school administration. After hours of this trivia, when it was almost time for school to let out, Daisuke quipped, "Hasn't he heard about 'legal briefs?'"

I started when I heard this, for the words reverbrated in my mind, like the sound of a pachinko ball descending:

'Legal Briefs'  
RAttle...  
...rattLE  
RATtle...  
...ratTLE  
(kerplunk)

-poof-

I felt the tingle which told me that a trigger had been sprung, and I was once again Cinderella.

I had a nervous feeling about this change. Not good. Mentally, I added the words to the list I was compiling for Basho, trying to delay the moment when my gaze would wander downward, from the stage to the seat before me, to my books on my knee, to my bare knees, to my underwear...feeling the air stir across my chest.

I sighed morosely. Definitely not good.

I was in a bad dream. I was near naked in an auditorium full of people. Mind you, I had sung on stage in a daring costume, and had not been bothered. However, at that time and in that setting, the costume had been designed for showmanship. Boxer briefs with charming Totoro pictures were not. I got them for my birthday, all right? It was Mom's idea of a cute present. Also, my tee- shirt felt too small. As Cinderella, I had certain ...dimensions... that filled out the tank top differently.

Like many bad dreams, no one noticed. Everyone had their attention on the speaker on the stage, hypnotized as he droned on and on. No one would ever see that I was unclothed, female, and exposed, so long as I did not say anything.

"Aaaaccccckkkk!" So, naturally, I said something.

The magic attraction took effect immediately, and everyone turned to stare. I covered my face with my hands and ran for the door, using seat backs, shoulders, and heads as stepping stones.

With a rain cape from my locker wrapped about me, a little later, I slowed down enough to hide and catch my breath. I desperately wanted a certain little black pig to show up. It did not happen.

Students were leaving the assembly, groaning and complaining about the principal's new project, gossiping about the streaker who ran across everyone's heads.

"Did you see what she was wearing?"

"What does that mean?"

"Hey, I saw Ranma-chan wearing men's underwear, one time!"

"That's because he's really a man, Dummy!"

"Say, you don't suppose...?"

"What? Come on out with it! Say it!"

"Do you suppose Ranma dyed his hair?"

(blap!) "Dummy!"

"Owww!...No, I guess not."

I tried to stay out of sight. The last thing I wanted now was to attract someone's attention, especially Kuno...

"My Princess! I have found you!"

"Oh, no," I groaned. "Tell me this is not happening!"

"Allow me to defend you! I shall protect you from this perverse crowd!"

"Dai-kun..."

"Do not treat me with such respect, my princess! I have not earned it! I am not yet worthy!"

"What do you mean?" I hissed, "I am Hiroshi, you idiot!"

He leaned conspiratorially closer, "I know that. But right now, you are Cinderella, and you are vulnerable. I must defend you!" He was wearing a set of armor with helmet, greaves and leg guards, and he was reaching toward me with a narrow fabric strip marked with thin black lines.

For a moment I held my face in my hand, one finger at a time falling down to vibrate across my lips, "Blehblehblehbleh!" Then I pulled myself together, grabbed Daisuke and pushed him against the wall.

"Dai-kun." I said no more, waiting until I was sure his attention was on my face. "Dai, I want you to know that I think you are a great guy, a good pal, and a true friend. I think that your efforts to protect someone you see as a helpless female are both noble and honorable. However..."

He blinked, "...however?"

"However, if you come at me with that tape measure one more time, I'm going to have to hurt you."

"Oh. Okay, Hiroshi-chan."

"And don't call me that!"

He had such a hang-dog look that I took pity on him. "Look Dai," I said, "Despite the curves, despite the costume (or lack of it), and despite the outward appearance, I am plain old Hiroshi. The same as I always was. Because of the wish, I can sing, and dance, and I can fight, but underneath, I am still Hiroshi. Got that?"

He nodded gravely, the helmet bobbing precariously on his head.

"Of course, now and then I do get these strange cravings for chocolate..."

"This is all new to me, Hiroshi...ah...kun," Dai swallowed nervously. "Just don't hit on me, okay? I don't think I could stand that."

"I'll give you a hit! Weren't you listening? And put down that tape measure!"

"Sorry!" he threw down the tape and grinned weakly, "Force of habit. It is just that..." he stopped in embarrassment.

"What?"

"You're so darn cute!"

"Gr.r.r.r.r!"

End: Chapter Eleven


	12. Sundered Soul

Disclaimer: No gerbils have been harmed in the writing of this fanfic. They are like cats - they always land on their feet.

ASHES - A Cinderella Story

Chapter Twelve - Sundered Soul

The spider weaves her web so fine  
Threads of crimson, threads of wine  
Find your partner, swing her free  
Chapter Twelve was meant to be

AT FURINKAN HIGH SCHOOL:

As they left the school grounds, Nabiki fell into step alongside Cinderella, saying, "Y'know, that woman is no longer demanding that you sing at her daughters' birthday party."

"Uh...yeah, thanks, Nabiki-sempai."

"Think nothing of it. Just part of our deal."

"Er. Heh-heh. Yeah. Our deal. Forgot all about that..."

"Speaking of which..."

"Yes?" A bead of 'glow' trickled from Cinderella's brow.

"Since you are 'chan' right now, it seems like an awfully good time for me to collect on my payment for services."

Cinderella squeaked, "Now?"

"Oh, not at this instant. All my props are at home. You know, camera, flash unit, stuff to enhance the allure of the person being photographed."

Cinderella blanched. "Maybe you didn't notice, but I have no desire to be pretty! You said you wanted to take pictures! You didn't say anything about making me look..." she had to strain to pronounce the word, "...alluring!"

"Au contraire! It is the very essense of modelling! Don't you agree, Daisuke-san?"

Daisuke nodded violently.

"Doesn't matter," grumped Cinderella.

"Absolutely no outsider ever sees anything that goes on in my studio. Ask Ranma. How do you think I get him to pose for all his photographs?"

Cinderella guessed, sourly, "Blackmail?"

"Discretion. I never reveal anything about what is going on. It is a mark of professionalism that I would never shame anyone whose picture I take."

Begrudgingly, Cinderella agreed, stopping to refasten the catches on the front of the slicker. "Okay, I'll go. And I want you to know, Nab-san, how much I appreciate your discretion, and the way you are not taking advantage of my situation to ... Nabiki?"

The blonde singer looked about, but Nabiki was no longer by her side. Instead, the middle Tendo daughter was talking to Daisuke, who had bills ready as she was saying "...I'm offering you the chance of a lifetime - right in the dressing room..."

"Hey!" cried Cinderella. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Daisuke looked sheepish, while Nabiki replied, "Really, Hiroshi, you shouldn't be so bashful. Don't you want your friends by your side while you perform?"

Daisuke's sheepish grin faded as he confronted Cinderella's hostile glare. "I think I'd better not," he said to Nabiki, as he crammed his currency back into his pants pocket. "I don't want to collect on my hospitalization insurance this soon!"

AT THE TENDO ABODE:

"I'm home!"

"Good evening, Nabiki! Oh! And who is your friend?"

"Her? Oh, just Hiroshi."

Kasumi blinked, looked again at Cinderella, then withdrew to the kitchen with a puzzled frown, as Nabiki led the blond girl up the stairs.

Nabiki shoved Cinderella into the room and closed the door, where Cinderella wheeled upon her.

"I thought you weren't going to tell! First, you try to sell tickets to Daisuke, then you tell Kasumi who I am! What IS all this?" she demanded.

Nabiki opened the closet and produced an object, handing it to her with a smirk. "THIS is a clothes hanger. You can hang your rain gear on it."

"No way! I'm not taking it off! You know what I'm wearing!"

"No, can't say I do, although I did hear some commotion at the auditorium. Hmmm. What do you have on under that slicker?"

Cinderella blurted, "I've changed my mind! I'm not going to do this!"

"Hiroshi," Nabiki folded her arms and gave the blonde girl a long, patient stare. "Come on! Do you really expect me to use a whole roll of film on you, while you are all covered up? I have a responsibility to provide quality images."

Cinderella snapped, "I'll bet! Who buys these photos, anyway?"

"Fans." Nabiki's smile was not reassuring.

"Fans. Girls? Guys? Perverts?"

"Look. Hiroshi. Isn't it a little late to try to back out?"

"I don't know! I can't think! And I can't let you take pictures of what I have on right now! What the heck am I supposed to wear?"

"Ah, that. Here you go." The closet door slid aside to reveal a myriad of bright objects, which upon closer inspection turned out to be thin strips of cloth, brilliant threads holding together only slightly larger patches of shining fabric, of coordinated hues and shades.

Cinderella's eyebrows went even higher and her cheeks became ashen. "I think I'm gonna puke," she managed to whisper.

"Not before you try these on. I don't want to lose my deposit," Nabiki warned. "Hang in there. You'll get used to it. Try this one, first."

"This is a bathing suit? I've seen sling shots that were bigger than this!"

"This 'bathing suit' happens to be a very expensive beach ensemble. Be respectful when you insult it."

"This is beyond embarrassing! Nothing can make me expose myself that way!"

"Ah...Did you, by any chance, read the fine print on our contract?"

"There's fine print?" Cinderella slowly turned to find Nabiki exhibiting a wide grin, holding out the contract for perusal.

"Absolutely. You'll love it. If you default on your part of the agreement, I have the right to demand another session, at my choice of time and place."

"Your choice? Of time and place?" Cinderella weighed the words. "Exactly when did you have in mind?"

"During the next school assembly. Guess where the photo shoot would be."

"Erk."

"I have to take these suits back tomorrow, but I do have an option on a full range of lingerie."

"Ack!"

"So, either wear these and pose now, or..."

"That's enough," Cinderella said, after glancing at Nabiki's Felix the Cat wall clock. "Okay, you win."

It was Nabiki's turn to be suspicious. "That was entirely too easy," she growled. "What are you up to?"

"My spell only lasts two hours," Cinderella said, smugly. "Two hours are up. I won't have time to pose."

Nabiki's frown turned dangerous. "You. Will. Pose," she growled as she grabbed a crimson and black one-piece suit and shoved it at Cinderella. "Now!"

"But...but I don't have time! There's only two minutes left!"

"I invoke the default clause! Tomorrow, one o'clock in the afternoon! On stage! Lingerie!" She added the clincher, "BLACK lingerie!"

"Ack! I can't...you wouldn't..." Cinderella whimpered.

"I will!" Nabiki hissed as she hoisted her camera. "Start, now! Or else!"

A subdued Cinderella dashed behind the dressing screen, ripped off the slicker and sailled it over the wood-and-rice-paper screen. Frantically, she leapt into the center of the room, wearing the proferred bathing suit. She struck a pose.

"Quit hamming it up!" Nabiki ordered as she snapped off the first of many flashes. "Just smile! You aren't in a horror movie!"

"I don't know about that," huffed Cinderella as she hurriedly shoved into a maroon one-piece with translucent belly-button cutouts.

Swim suits spun across the room like autumn leaves, as Cinderella ripped them off and threw them across the dressing screen, before grabbing another suit from the hangers and pulling it on. She held each pose only long enough for the photoflash to recharge before dashing off for another outfit.

"Twenty-one flash...twenty-two flash...flash...flash..." Nabiki counted, winding and shooting as fast as she could. "Fifty flash...fifty-one flash...fifty-two..."

-poof-

"...flash I don't think I'll be able to use that last one, Hiroshi."

"Argh!" growled Hiroshi, confined in a Precious Pearl bikini.

Nabiki paused thoughtfully. "...although, surely I can find someone who..."

"Don't you dare!" Hiroshi cried, outraged.

"Oh, all right. I'll keep it as a souvenir."

Soun stuck his head in the door. He was wearing his best suit, and he said, "I shall be out this evening, Nab..." He stopped with his eyes glued to Hiroshi, who was poised for flight in pearl-hued strings and partly superflous postage stamp necessities.

"...iki..." Soun finished, turned, and marched toward the stairs with a blank expression. A moment later, the front door closed carefully.

"Whoops," Nabiki grinned, as Hiroshi tried to cover himself with both hands while scrambling to get behind the dressing screen.

A BLAST FROM THE PAST:

Time folds like an accordian, some say, and when the folds are close together you can step across and be whenever you want. The dangers of this step are many, yet through the ages some have been able to take it as casually as if they were going to market.

Urd, of course, rarely went to market, but that is another story. Being the norn of the past, she disdained most trivial everyday activities. She usually liked a little more excitement in her life.

Nevertheless, she stood patiently in the Nerima park, on the tiny arched bridge beside the well dressed man as he gazed beyond the stream. Underneath his long coat, the man was wearing a new suit and glistening shoes, as though celebrating an occasion. Both were wearing floppy, obscuring hats.

Across the duck-laden stream, a woman tended her children as they spread bright dishes for a picnic.

"It is as I remembered," said the man. "She was so gentle with the children, and they were so rowdy, so thoughtless. Just normal kids. If I could only tell them..."

"But you know you cannot, Sensei," Urd reminded him. "The past is past. There is no changing it, we can only hope to learn from it." She heard him sigh and she asked, gently, "Do you have any regrets?"

"No, I suppose not. The children have come through it, but sometimes I worry about my baby girl. She was always so cheerful and supportive, and now, without her mother, she has become so aggressive..."

"I would not worry about her, being the last-born can make a person competitive," Urd spoke as she watched him dab at a tear. "That is the way Kami-sama meant it to be, and you cannot second-guess fate. Plus, I love the way she laughs."

HIROSHI:

I found my shirt and pants folded neatly and stacked atop my Totoro boxers and tee shirt, behind the screen. My mood was black as I peeked out into Nabiki's room, but she had vanished. It was a good thing, for if she had been waiting with a sly grin and a smart-ass remark, I would have probably disregarded the consequences and violated my long-held policy of avoiding bloodshed.

"Oh, there you are, Hiroshi!" Kasumi met me with tea at the base of the stairs, leading me into the living room and enthroning me at the table with all the ceremony of a visiting dignitary. "Dinner will be ready in a moment, if you can stay. My, you are certainly looking like yourself, aren't you?" I did not even try to understand what she meant by that.

Nabiki was seated at the table, poring over several library books. "Not ready, yet," she said with a distracted air.

"What's not ready?" I gulped the tea, my bitter mood disolving despite my determination to hang on to bleak anger.

"Your report. You did ask for information on a girl from a certain village, didn't you? Standard rates."

I could not remain angry and eager at the same time. I said "Yes," shying away from the thought of what 'standard rates' meant when applied to anything that Nabiki provided. Before I could ask her what she had found, she spoke.

"By the way, how is your sweet little sister doing?"

"That brat? I don't know and I don't care, so why should you?"

Nabiki made a face. "Just curious. She is such a charming little ... moppet," She said, struggling with the last word.

I finished the tea with another gulp and handed the cup to Kasumi, who appeared at the exact moment the cup was empty. She cleared the table on her way toward the kitchen.

"You couldn't prove it by me," I said. "She's a pain. She's a health hazard." She manipulates. She lies. There was no way I could be as heartless as she said. But why did I feel so bad about it, now? "Could we change the subject?"

"Fine. I've got to call my sources, then I'll be through. Where can I find you, later on?"

"I'm going to go home, veg out in front of the TV and try not to think about what your father thinks of me!"

"Oh. That. I wouldn't worry, Hiroshi. He's seen far worse."

I covered my face with my hands and sighed, "I doubt it."

"Are you too distraught to eat?"

"I'm not hungry." I peeked out from behind my hands. "Why?"

On cue, Kasumi appeared with an armload of bowls filled with succulent dishes. "Nabiki?" she called, "Have you seen Mr. Saotome?"

"He was Panda-san and heading for the back woods, the last time I saw him."

"Oh, dear! Why should he do that?"

"Someone told him that Mrs. Saotome was coming for a visit," Nabiki said, radiating innocence. "Must have been a mistake."

"Oh, my," Kasumi said. "Ranma is off somewhere, Akane has gone shopping with some friends, and now Father has gone out for the night. This entire meal will go to waste."

"Too bad," Nabiki said, eying me. "Hiroshi just said he wasn't hungry."

"I'll call Mom and tell her not to wait up!" I said, grabbing the phone while trying to ignore Nabiki's grin.

AT THE PRIMROSE PRACTICE HALL:

The door swung open with only a touch. I entered, craning my neck back and forth, hoping to spy any occupants before they descended upon me. I did not want to meet the ugly stepmother while I was me.

The practice hall echoed eerily; I overheard something that sounded like whimpering, but it did not repeat itself and so I figured I was hearing things. On the stage, positioned on a stand as if ready for a performance, was the mask. It was white lacquered wood, with a crimson grimace glistening on the trim, and black ties hanging to the sides. On a flat place inside, it had a plaque: 'Made by Bunodai, of finest ash, #46'.

It drew me. I lifted it, so fine and thin that it seemed to float on the air, the silken ties streaming behind it as I swung it around, trying to build up the courage to try it on. A true hero should be prepared to die for his love. A true hero would sacrifice himself to save her. Who was I kidding? I decided to drop the whole matter and go home, only my feet would not obey. I continued to stand there, on the stage, unable to walk away from the cursed carved wood. My knees shook and my hands failed when I lifted it to peer through the eye slits.

At last I fitted it to my face and prepared to be struck down by the demon, but I felt nothing unusual. The view through the eyeslits was so restricted that there was no way I could have fought wearing it, the way Kidori had done. I could hardly see the floor in front of me. In fact, the only thing I noticed was that the whimpering had started again. The noise grew louder, until I was certain that it was someone crying. I replaced the mask and followed my ears.

The whimpering became the sound of a girl, weeping. The girl's weeping became sobs, and the sobs became moans of deep, heartfelt pain, the kind that constrict the throat and make it impossible for a person to speak - all they can do is gasp and groan and cry until the tears are gone. I froze as panic urged me to flee, while the heartwrenching sobs robbed me of my strength and bound me to the spot. Having heard them, I could not leave until I discovered who was so horribly saddened, and the cause of their grief. Yet, I only wanted to know why - I already knew who it was. It could only be Kidori, and her sobs were tearing my heart from my chest, they were so painful.

At last I came to the office where I had met her stepmother, and, hesitantly, I turned the knob to the office door. I expected to be grabbed by a set of powerful arms and subjected to inhuman torture. This door, like the outside door, glided open on oiled hinges and invited me deeper into the office. There was a desk, and behind the desk, in a beaten swivel chair, was Kidori. She was huddled on the cushion as she bent her head upon her knees and sobbed. When she heard the door thump against the wall she looked up.

I was poised for flight, gripping the door panel with whitened knuckles, ready to shove with all my might, anything to give me a head start in a dash for safety. I was no fighter and I was facing a monster who could dare to face Ranma head-on, who could break me like a twig if I so much as sneezed wrong. I was ready to bolt if she even crossed her eyes at me. I could run, I thought. I could move very fast, when it came to saving my out-of-shape carcass.

I didn't have a chance. She saw me and jumped across the office, grabbing me before I could blink. I steeled myself to die.

"Hiroshi!" she cried with warm delight.

I opened one eye. I was still alive. I opened the other eye.

Kidori had her arms wrapped around me in a loving hug, her head pushing against my chest as she talked rapidly, "Hiroshi! I knew you would come for me! My love! I've waited so terribly long for you! I thought you had forgotten when I saw you at the concert and I sang the song for you, the one where I told you how terribly hard it was to see you so close, but I could not reach out for you because there were so many things that could go wrong, and now you are here and you're going to take me away, just like in the stories, and..."

She sensed that I was not responding as she had expected, and this caused her to stop in uncertainty.

"Hiroshi?" she asked, suddenly timid.

"Y...Y...Yes?" I stammered.

"Hiroshi, don't you recognise me? Please, say you know me. Let it be like old times, my love."

I wanted to say, "I'm sorry! Really, I am! I want to remember something wonderful, with us together, because I really am drawn to you and I think you are very special, even though you do turn into a monster, and I think that I want to know you better!"

What I said, was, "Ah...ah...I'm sorry!"

She threw her arms about me and pressed her face to my chest. Afraid that she would start crying again, I tried to clear my throat and make my speech. Kidori interrupted my to say, "I could help you to remember, Haji."

"Ulp." I swallowed the statement I was about to make.

"Would you like me to try, Hiroshi?"

"You called me Haji."

"I know, isn't that silly of me? Anyone can tell you aren't Haji, this time."

"Er...this time?"

"Hold me, my love. Let me feel your embrace."

"Really, I think we should get to know each other the conventional way - go out and get a coke and fries, or maybe go to the park, and then maybe to a carnival..."

"Hiroshi..." she began.

"Yes, my...Kidori-chan?"

"You don't really think I am your lover, do you?"

"I...I'm not sure," I faltered. "All I know is that I have been drawn to you since I first saw you, on the stage."

She moved closer. "And when was that?" she breathed. She started nibbling at my lower lip, and I almost could not answer.

"When I first saw you. When I..." I was fumbling my big chance. I could tell her about how I turned into Cinderella, and how we had already sung and danced, before she knew that she was in love with me. "When Cinderella went out and..."

"Oh!" cried Kidori. "Isn't she heavenly?"

I deflated immediately. "Do you like her that much?" I asked, and I could not keep a stain of jealousy from bleeding into my voice.

"She's wonderful! I simply adore her!"

"More than me?" I could not keep the hurt out.

"Don't be silly! You are my life! No one can come between us! But I am so happy that she could be my friend, as well!"

"I...I don't know what to say."

"Hiroshi, my love. What do you want?"

I braced myself. "If you saw the two of us at the same time, who would you rather be with - her or me?"

"Do you mean I would have to choose? Oh, Hiroshi! You can't be that cruel! Your heart has always been bigger than the two of us!"

I wanted to say, "You don't have to choose. You can have both," but the words stuck in my throat. If I told her, then I would never know. I hit myself in the head with my fist, willing the pain. I would never know!

She exclaimed with a sob of joy, "Hiroshi! My love! It does not matter! You have come for me!" She leapt to her feet and rushed to hold me. I felt a thrill as she clutched me and wept into my shoulder, and my petty jealousy melted. She had called me her love. She had been waiting for me. She did not know me from the fishmonger down the street, and yet she knew I would come to her. I held a warm, beautiful, and desirable girl in my arms, and I was very frightened. She might be a black widow. She might, at that very moment, be possessed of the ghost in the mask, and holding me close in order to slip a poisoned blade into my back. And I was prepared to let her kill me, any way she wished, for the mere opportunity to hold her for a few minutes longer.

Baka. Boy am I baka.

"Oh, Hiroshi!" she cried, "I have waited so long! I know you don't remember, but it was you I cared for, so long ago! I have kept your love in my heart, hoping that you would come for me, and now..." A sob caught in her throat and she turned from me, downcast. "I can't go! I am bound to remain here, until I have finished! I must obey Mother! Oh, I am so weak-willed! You have come to free me, yet I cannot go!"

"You don't have to stay here!" I told her. "You don't have to be a slave! You can leave!"

"No, I can't," she sobbed. "I must obey her. I have no will power. Anyone can command me, and I cannot refuse."

"Anyone?" An unwanted thought occured to me, standing there so close to her, so lovely, so desirable. So tempting. The room was getting warmer, or there was steam wilting my collar.

"Anyone!" she sobbed, "I cannot refuse!"

"Anything?" The steam was coming out of my ears. I know it was. I could feel it. She was warm and desirable, molding herself against me.

"Oh, I am so sorry! I am so weak!"

"Weak?" I thought of a distant field, my body failing, as Kidori fought and died because I was too weak to fight for myself. Suddenly, the delicious images flooding my mind were gone, as if blasted away in a great wind. I sputtered, "Weak? Impossible! Look at your career! Look at your songs!"

"I only did that because Mother told me to perform!"

"And the mask? Why do you wear the mask?"

She cringed, her words barely audible, "I cannot refuse her."

"She will never refuse me!" another voice, strident and demanding, rang out in the small room. I turned to encounter the grotesque face I had seen before. Now, the woman wearing that face was not attacking. She was gloating, "She is mine to command! If you do not want her to attack you, you will leave!"

"She does not truly want you!" Juupooka declared as she joined Kidori's step-mother. The room was filled to overflowing. I had always known that Juupooka was large, but this was the first time I had seen how huge she was. Into the remaining area slipped Sakku-chan, and she was even homelier than I remembered.

Sakku-chan placed a scrawny, possessive arm around Kidori, and Kidori followed her without protest. "Remember this, my daughter," the step- mother said. "We love you. Only we love you."

I saw the dream of my life being led meekly away from me, and I felt my heart crack. Kidori did not even protest. She raised her eyes to mine and wept, but in her face I saw only blind obedience.

"Out," Juupooka grumbled, pointing at the doorway.

I went, closing the squeaky door and making my miserable way to the front of the practice hall. Outside, I headed down the street, not looking back until I was half a block away. When I did turn, I saw Kidori at a window. She held her arms out to me and I could see her saying something, before rough hands grabbed her and pulled her back behind the curtains. While I am not good at reading lips, I think she was saying, 'Hiroshi. I need you. Please help me.'

I could not go home. The pain in my chest was so great that I knew of only one place to ease it. I had to speak to someone wise in the way of subterfuge and double-dealing. That was why I went to see Shampoo's great-grandmother.

AT THE CAT CAFE:

"Well, you didn't come in here to discuss food, Boy!" Cologne pinned me with a sharp eye, the way I would have mounted an insect on a board for biology. "What do you want, anyway?"

"I think he knows," I said as I indicated Ranma, who was sitting at a nearby table. He nodded in return, showing none of his normal brashness. It figured that he would be here. Cologne was the most likely source of information on haunted masks, and, aside from me, Ranma was the most eager person to learn. Maybe Cinderella had a better honed fighting awareness, but I had the ability to put two and two together and not be upset when the answer was four. Daisuke could, also, but he would probably fake surprise, just to be polite.

The old ghoul flipped her dishtowel over her shoulder, where it fell over Mousse's head. When Mousse complained, she followed the cloth with a shot of cold dishwater, ignored a burst of furious quacking to drop a cage over the duck, and turned to me to say, "If it's about permission to post school announcements on our windows, the answer is 'no'."

"I'm not here about that. Bear with me. I don't know if this will work or not."

I returned Ranma's nod, swallowed the lump in my throat, and continued, "I've heard that you can see magical influences. I don't suppose you see anything unusual about me?"

I got a blank, no-comment look from Cologne. She was not going to volunteer any information, but she had to be interested because she was not dismissing me out of turn, either.

Gathering my resolve, I started down the list of possible triggers by saying, "'I want to be a rock star!'" My white shirt and black pants remained, so I deduced that I was still me.

Then, with a twinge, I proceeded to the next trigger, the one which had clothed me in jogging gear:

"'Love robot!'"

No point in looking at myself. From the pained expressions on their faces, I knew that Basho had already made good his promise to eliminate this trigger.

With a lump in my throat about the size of a baseball and my face flaming hot, I prepared my final effort. I had not not told Basho about the latest trigger, yet. I did not want to use it, but in order to gain allies, I would have to expose myself. Literally.

"Can I borrow a table cloth?" I asked, and as soon as I had draped it around me, I uttered the most recent and most shameful of my triggers:

"'Legal Briefs!'"

-poof-

To my horror, the table cloth disappeared along with my school shirt and pants, leaving me in girl form, in my underwear.

I yipped and grabbed for another covering. Since Mousse's robe was handy, I hid in it. I had to endure scratches and jabs from sharp objects concealed within it, and ignore the quacking which had risen to the decibel level of a hurricane during fowl weather.

Cologne hopped back to the room after tossing the caged duck into the kitchen. She fairly bounced with anticipation, but she suppressed it to address me, "Exactly what do you expect me to do about this, Boy?"

"Nothing. Not about changing into Cinderella, anyway. I have that under control." The little voice inside my head added, Right. Barring undiscovered phrases. I can quit any time I want to. I'm not getting used to this. Nope. Not me. I added, "However, I do need some information about masks."

"I expected someone else to bring that up, eventually," she rasped. "Son-in-Law, tell him what you suspect."

Ranma gave her a sour look as he shrugged. "Looks like a haunted battle mask, just like y'said. But it's old. Real old."

Cologne's cheek muscle twitched in irritation. "Tell him the rest!" she snapped.

"She didn't feel no different!" Ranma responded, shooting her a look of irritation. He respected the old ghoul, despite - or perhaps because of - the battles they had fought together, but he did not like being badgered.

"Different?" I pressed, "From what?"

"Herself. One thing I didn't mention to ya about her aura, when we were talkin' about the fight..." he hesitated, then continued, "...that is, when I was tryin' to get past you to get a closer look at her..."

"Hey, I said I was sorry!"

"S'Okay. I told ya Kidori had a real weak aura, as though she had no sense of self at all. There was something bothering me about her that first time, and it hit me again, when she was wearing the mask. Y'said there was a ghost dominating her, but..." He glanced at Cologne again, as if for support, and I began to worry. What could be so bad that it made Ranma uncertain?

"Son-in-Law does not want to upset you," Cologne answered my unspoken question. "What he was trying to say is that he sensed the 'ghost' who was haunting the mask."

"...And...?"

"...And it was her!" Ranma blurted.

"I don't understand," I looked from one to the other. They returned my stare.

"It appears that she has a split personality," the old ghoul was the first to speak. "One side is weak and easily influenced, while the other side is very powerful. The powerful side appears to be an element of her spiritual being which is bound to the mask. I would have to call it a sundered soul. I have seen one or two, but they are very unusual."

"I still don't understand!" I wailed. "Sure, I can see how you would compare a splintered soul to a split personality. But, how could one part of the spirit become embedded in an inanimate object? How could half of Kidori be absorbed by the mask?"

"Not so complicated, Boy. Isolate the fighting spirit of a person, shut it off away from the rest. It remains part of the whole, so to speak, but it is buried, unable to be expressed. The thing which releases it is the association with the mask. To tell the truth, the mask is not haunted, except when Kidori wears it."

I mulled it over, but this required deep thinking. As a result, my head was hurting almost as much as my heart. I began, slowly, to draw out my conclusions, "So, when Kidori wears the battle mask, she is actually gaining her full potential?"

"In a manner of speaking, she is regaining her true self. But it is an unbalanced self, dominated by the anger and fury unsuppressed all these years. If she does not learn how to integrate this unreasoning war spirit, it will overwhelm her and cause her to go insane."

"If she fights against it, she will lose anyway!" I felt my gorge rising. I was going to be sick, I just knew it. Not only was Kidori threatened by her evil self, her true self was the monster I had fought last night!

Cologne shook her scraggly hair at me. "I told you this, and I was wrong." she said, looking as if she tasted bitter gall, "The child must fight. She must conquer herself, in order to become a balanced person, so she can control her hatred."

"But she has no reason to want to do that," I protested. "And, what do you mean, 'all these years'? How old is Kidori, anyway?"

"Sixteen," Ranma said. I must have looked doubtful, so he shoved both his palms forward, saying, "Hey! I can tell! She's young, the mask is old. Real old."

"How old is 'real old'?"

"Centuries," Cologne suggested.

Cold air trickled in through openings in Mousse's garment, chilling me to the heart. "But Kidori's only sixteen!" I objected. "She's my age!"

I chewed on that thought. I could not take much more of this. I was in love with a monster who was hundreds of years old?

Ranma said, after a thoughtful scowl, "Why'dja say she's your girl, anyway?"

It shook me up, having to answer that question. I had been avoiding it, clear up until my fight with Primrose, and after that it seemed pointless to wonder. I avoided answering until I finished untangling my feelings. Then, I said, "I realize I sounded like Kuno, deciding that she is mine without asking her. I can't explain, but I know I have to be near her. It's like an obligation." And now I knew that she returned the feeling.

"Have you asked y'self exactly why she's staying here in Nerima?"

"Huh?"

"Those show biz people gotta move around, t'stay in business. They have to go where the money is, and they don't stay in one town without a reason."

I shook my head. "Haven't a clue," I admitted.

"There's no way about it. She is after something, and if she is being influenced by her violent self, it cannot be good," Cologne said, in that thoughtful, leathery voice of hers. She pierced me once again with a steely eye and added, "If you want to save her, you'll have to stop her. That means you'll have to fight her."

I gulped, "Me?"

"It has to be you. She seems to be drawn toward you. And, when you fight, you have to go all out. No holding back, or she'll lose whatever humanity she has won. Like I said, she has to be stopped."

"And ya gotta watch out for her power," Ranma added. "She can knock a hole in a steel door with one punch."

I gulped again, liking their solution less and less. "Any suggestions?" I asked.

Cologne looked me up and down. "Don't be a door," she offered.

End: Chapter Twelve


	13. When You Wish Upon a Rock Star

Disclaimer: No gerbils have been harmed in the writing of this fanfic, except for the few that wandered into the Anime-con and were mistaken for kawaii dolls. 

ASHES - A Cinderella Story

Chapter Thirteen - When You Wish Upon a Rock Star

Follow the pattern and you'll find  
All the threads are intertwined  
First you twist and then you stomp  
Chapter Thirteen's set to romp.

HIROSHI:

"What happened?"

An alien landscape floated before my gaze, a landscape of gullies and dry riverbeds resulting from years of incredible soil erosion, centered by an oily pond which boasted a lillypad and a dark pupil in its very heart.

"You fainted."

The pond blinked.

"Aaaaaaa!" I sat bolt upright, pushing Cologne away from me. "I never faint! I'm a guy!"

Cologne drew back and put away the odiferous bottle she had been holding under my nose. She observed in a doctorly manner, "Nothing to be ashamed of, Boy. You are in an unusual situation."

"But I'm a guy!"

"Not at the moment. I oughta know," Ranma's voice intruded.

I had been lying on a pair of tables in the dining area, separated from the main room by screens, and I was wearing a white robe. A robe that clinked and rattled whenever I moved. I raised my hand to my face, and the hand was feminine. I nodded back at Ranma.

"Oh, yeah," I replied. "Forgot about that."

I have always looked up to Ranma. He was a little stand-offish when we first met, yeah, but he settled into being a good friend, even if he refused to open up all the way. Lately, however, I had noticed a strain in our relationship. For one thing, he had a nasty way of smiling when he was pounding on you. While I liked that in a sparring partner, being newly arrived on the martial arts scene, I did not like the way he was also starting to smirk when he thought I was not looking.

"Look," I said. "This wasn't my idea. I never wanted to be a girl! Even part time."

"I believe you," Ranma smirked. "Me, too."

"Tell me, Boy," Cologne hopped softly closer. "Exactly how did this enchantment come about?"

After nearly incapacitating my vocal cords, I had to admit, "I...I can't tell."

"I thought so," she said, regarding me with one eye, the one which had startled me a moment before. "'Tool of the gods', indeed!"

"But what does that mean?"

"For one thing," she called back as she bounced away toward the main dining area, "It means I haven't the faintest idea who has done this to you, or why. And that it is none of my business."

"Sorry," Ranma intruded into my thoughts again. He had a sheepish look.

"About what?"

"She popped you with that cane of hers before I knew what she was doing. She's a tricky old ghoul. I think she just wanted you to be still while she checked you out."

Whew! "You mean I didn't faint?"

"Naww. Yer pretty tough. Y'mean what you said, that the wish made ya stronger than Kidori?"

I wiped my chin, which I was surprised to find was wet with drool. I must have looked pathetic, lying unconscious on that table, slobbering. My thoughts were bleak as I considered Ranma's question. "I think so," I answered. "Except when she has that mask."

"Even then?" His gaze was thoughtful. "Ya sure about that?"

"No," I admitted. "Not really."

Cologne had returned from the dining area to set out cups of steaming liquid, which made the drool start again. Supper was a memory, overpowered by the aroma of nearby food. "So, it's possible that you could beat her, anyway?" she asked.

"I can't fight her! Couldn't you do it?" I pleaded with Ranma, "If I promised not to interfere?" Even as I asked, I knew that I could never merely stand by and allow it to happen.

"Nope," he shrugged casually, then recanted. "Sure I could, but I ain't go no reason to, now, long as she ain't after Akane. I'll back ya up, but otherwise, it ain't my fight. If you got the power, then you can beat her yerself." He indicated Cologne, who appeared to have gone to sleep balanced on her cane, and added, "Y'heard her."

Our conversation was interrupted when Nabiki breezed into the Cat Cafe. She called out, "Felications, Cologne-san. Hullo, Saotome, Hiro...Cinderella-chan. Thought I'd find you here."

She dropped a brown manilla envelope onto the counter and turned to me. "There have been a lot of girls named Kidori from that particular village," she said. "Four thousand."

"There were four thousand Kidoris?" I asked, before I remembered who I was talking to. I reached for my wallet, only to remember that it was somewhere off in wish-space. After I begged Ranma for a loan and passed on the wrinkled, carefully hoarded thousand yen notes to Nabiki, she handed me a thin sheaf of papers.

"Plus, I had some luck with Kodachi's sketch, along with Ranma's description. This is a 'Noh' mask, possibly crafted by a certain master masker of the era, Bunodai. Bunodai masks were said to have magical qualities."

"Yes, his name was inside the mask." I said. "Was he famous?"

"Try 'briefly notorious'," Nabiki smirked. "Some Bunodai masks evoked such powerful emotions that the audiences would panick and rush from the theater. It was said they were supposed to release the natural emotional skills of the actor. Actors who wore those masks claimed they could not act without them. Ironically, that may have been true."

She lifted out a photocopy of a sketch of a Noh actor on stage. "The masks earned a reputation for being cursed. Bunodai made masks for a troupe of actors, and the troupe became so popular they performed for the emperor. The emperor was so pleased and gave them such lavish gifts, that they gave him their masks. Despite the obvious publicity, the actors, every one, all vanished into obscurity and never appeared on stage again. It was right there in our history texts, shortly before one of those big fires."

"Still, I never heard about him."

Nabiki shrugged, "It could be because Bunodai was not a he. Her husband handled the business end, while she remained in obscurity to fill orders."

I puzzled over what she had told me. "A 'Noh' mask?"

"Apparently."

"Not a warrior mask? That's strange. It looked horrific." I had to admit that the mask I had tried on had been inert, a typical 'Noh' mask, though very well made. Only when Kidori was wearing it did it become horrible.

"Instead of 'warrior mask', say 'face shield'. Noh masks are very lightweight, thinly carved wood. They wouldn't protect you from a paperwad," She returned the photocopy to the folder. "Interestingly, all the masks she ever made were destroyed by the owners. It seems that not only was she capable of placing curses on them, she was also revealed as a closet femi-nazi. All Noh actors were men, you'll remember. My resident expert at the museum says they wised up and got rid of the masks before the masks got rid of them."

Cologne stirred from her corner of the table to mutter, "It would seem that one of the masks survived."

"Apparently," Nabiki replied. "Some person was so set on keeping one that they did not care if it did steal someone's spirit."

"But who would do that? Kidori's family?"

Nabiki shrugged, "On the present day Kidori, I can't help you. Seems the records for her family were blown away in a storm. 'Primrose' simply appeared one year, started singing, and there she was. Her history trail leads into swampland. Ditto for the 'step-mother' you told me about."

"Almost as if they were ninjas," I speculated, getting ready to head home. "I'll send Mousse's robe back."

Cologne glanced toward the kitchen. "No hurry," she shrugged dismisively.

-----------

I had forgotten about being alert. What do you expect? Since when was I supposed to know that my meeting with Ranma could be misinterpreted? I pushed out of the Cat Cafe doors, blinking into the opaque darkness, lit only by a few dismal sparks thrown off by a shattered streetlight at the corner. Accustomed to the cafe parlor with its dazzling pink neon, I strained to make out nearby shapes. Slowly, they swam into focus.

One of the shapes reminded me of the Chesire Cat, only in reverse - instead of slowly vanishing, it was slowly appearing out of the gloom. There were eyes, wide open and reflecting dimly the gleam of light escaping the lowered curtain in the windows. There were teeth, bared in a grimace of supreme anticipation. There was a hammer, whistling down over the head of the Chesire Cat, who had long, purple hair. A big hammer. Aimed at me. Oops.

For an instant, I panicked. I considered three different paths of escape in the time it took the hammer to transcribe ten degrees of arc. In the end, I drew upon strength and speed beyond my comprehension and intercepted the hammer, whirled around it to stand on the head while I grasped the handle, riding it down to smash into the sidewalk. I was eyeball to eyeball with a beautiful china doll. She dropped the weapon and got up in my face, railing, "What blonde bimbo doing with Airen?"

"I asked him a question!" I huffed as I straightened and tried to move back, "Do you mind?"

"You strange girl," she observed, from inches away. Someone switched on a lighted sign and darkness faded. I was remotely aware of the way she filled out her garment, a watery blue silk which combined with the ribbon in her hair to bring out the depths of her eyes, as she pressed up against me. From somewhere, I recalled that she disdained use of a bra.

At this distance, her eyes were huge, beautiful, dreamy orbs of mystic enchantment, floating in my vision - an incredible improvement over the ruined landscape of her great-grandmother. I forgot what shape I was in. For a long moment, I considered drowning myself in those pools, immersing myself in purple seas where samisens played and houris danced for my pleasure.

"Aiyah!" she yipped, jerking back. "You VERY strange girl! Stay away from Shampoo!"

"Gladly," I grumped, turning to go.

She spoke a few heartfelt words in Chinese and disappeared into the cafe, glaring hatred at me. In a moment, Ranma scooted out the door trying to peel her off of his back.

"I tell ya, I ain't after nobody!" he yelped, "And I it ain't like I'm really yer husband, anyway! Let go!"

Shampoo finally released him, watched him leave with impatient sorrow in those huge dreamy eyes, then turned her gaze on me. If looks could kill - brrrr. I hurried to follow Ranma.

Away from the cafe, Ranma turned to me, straightening his sleeves. He noticed the direction of my gaze and complained, "I thought you was in love with that Kidori chick!"

"Hey, I can look, can't I?"

"Whatever. We gotta getcha cured, before ya get in more trouble."

"I wish we could," I mused. "But I don't know exactly how."

"Y'said ya made a wish," Ranma tried again to delve into my secret. "What'd ya wish on? A magic sword?"

"Not exactly," I hesitated, wondering if I could tell him how the wish had come about. I also wanted to ask him if he knew about Ryoga turning into a pig. It seemed an innocent enough question to ask. After all, they were both victims of the cursed springs. They had something in common. Misery loves company.

"Yeah? What did happen?" he prompted.

"Can't tell," I said thickly, and it was the truth. When I tried to talk about Ryoga my voice froze, and I knew that I could not reveal Ryoga's secret, even if I had wanted to do so.

"Heh. One of those kinda curses," he massaged the back of his neck. "Might'a known."

"I'll just have to make another wish," I continued to muse. "But I can't, yet. I have to help Kidori."

"Yeah. If ya can," he watched me closely as he asked, "Ya really gonna fight her?"

"I can't! I can't hurt her!"

"Th'old goat says that's the only way."

"There has to be another!"

We talked about small stuff as we trudged along. It was like the old days, when I was normal and he was...well, he was the same way he always was.

The night was cool and the stars were brilliant, crowded like jewels over the darkened street, and I imagined that I could leap high enough to touch them. I felt a tingle of immense power, and knew that Kidori had once again assumed the mask. Somewhere in Nerima, she could soon be stalking the streets, looking for a suitable challenge.

My shudder rattled unknown metallic weapons beneath Mousse's robe, but I did not investigate the noise. I had learned not to go exploring earlier when I had reached into the depths beneath my armpit and pulled out a training toilet seat.

Then the surge of power was gone, and I knew she had relented. Something had made her take off the mask, and knowing this eased my tension.

REMEMBERING RAGNORAK:

In a tiny Nerima park two figures stood, an attractive woman and a not-so-attractive man watching with interest an unfolding drama. In a nearby building, clearly visible to them despite walls of mortar and heavy curtain, Kidori had tugged the mask from her face and was looking about with apprehension to be certain she had not been discovered.

For the first time, she had placed the mask on her face without Mother ordering her to do. The sheer effrontery of the deed had frightened her so much that she had taken it off immediately, before she came under its spell.

Shaking from the exertion, she looked about wildly, expecting Mother to appear in a rage. She laid the wooden shape aside and allowed herself a lingering sigh.

She shivered with a delicious thrill. She had found Haji! Only now, he was not called Haji, he was Hiroshi...Haji...Hiroshi... She shrugged. It would all work out. They were together again. No. They were not yet together, but they would be. Soon.

So many lives she had waited, growing old time and again without him. Like jewels hoarded in a lacquered camphorwood case, she had kept her memories of Haji, of that last precious time she had seen him alive. Now, she could take them out and hold them, for now she had found him. Now, she could hope.

Now, she could believe...

She remembered the chill bite of the wind skittering dead leaves across the field of dead bodies, bodies of her villagers. She remembered the strange little man who had so arrogantly aproached her in the heat of battle...

--She lifted the sword tip to his chin and he ignored it. He met --her eyes, his stormy gray to her stormy brown. Neither blinked.

"What you say means nothing to me," she shook her head, and the borrowed helmet flopped dangerously to one side when the padding shifted. "I have prepared my spirit for death, and my loyal retainers have already mourned my passing. To even speak of living, now, would be an insult to my people who have given up everything!"

"My Lady!" Her one living retainer spoke. In immense pain, his wounds fatal, he had crawled to her side. The little stranger stood aside out of respect for the dying.

"Haji!" she leapt to his side, longing to hold him but afraid that the slightest touch could snuff his life out that much sooner. "How is it you speak, when everything around has stopped moving?"

"My Lady," gasped Haji through his pain. "Only the two of us, and this demon, here, seem to be alive."

The little man bristled but controlled his anger to reply in a steady voice, "While I am not a demon, I can see how you would be concerned. Let me assure you, the battle is still going on. We have only stepped outside it for a moment. In a few seconds, yon knight will unfreeze, and when he does, he will walk over here and cut you both down!"

"Listen to him!" Haji begged, "You must remain alive! Lord Ieyushi needs you...I...I need you! My Lady! Accept his offer!" He subsided in a fit of coughing, with blood showing from the hand cupped over his words, the fingers going limp as life departed.

She stood in rigid silence before uttering, "Even so, I will not give my soul to some demon, in return for a trip to Hell!"

"Oh, if that is what worries you..." the little man stepped up to her in a shuffling dance, a carved mask in his hands. "I certainly don't want your soul - too much book-keeping when I could be out partying. All this little device does is focus your spirit so you can put your soul to some good use - such as beating the snot out of that smartass over there."

"And I will never see you again?"

"Never. You keep your soul."

--"So." She hissed, "How do I beat him?"

--"Glad you asked, I must admit. You see that face armor he is --wearing? Scary. We'll just whip up one for you that'll make you --even scarier. Just remember to take it off as soon as you are --through with it. It will drain all your strength, if you wear it --too long."

With a shrewd grimace, the little man added, "The man I won it from was very explicit about this - if you keep it on, it will give you a horrible headache." He shook his head, reflecting. "The fellow was honest enough in everything else, which was why he lost at gaming, I might say."

Across the open ground of the windblown field where the people of her village had tried...and failed...to stop the onslaught of the green-flagged warriors, the lowland knight had slowly lowered his foot to take another step. Kidori had fingered the wooden mask and hesitated, cautious of even the slightest taint of witchcraft. She had asked one more question.

--"What do I do with it, then?"

Clearly now, in her memory she saw the sly glance the little man had given her, a grin which would have stopped her if she had not been so furious. The man spoke smooth, oily words to reassure her, and she had donned the mask. She had felt the power, and she had lost her way.

--The stranger beside her watched the play of thoughts across her --face, a gleam of satisfaction stealing across his face.

--"Oh, yes," he sang, "Time for payback, says I!"

Loki had watched the woman warrior flow into her attack. She struck at her opponent with the force of Freya's shuttle, slamming to and fro on the loom of life, and with each blow he felt the twinge that spoke of threads gone awry. He grinned, savoring the joke. There was another twinge, an instant of regret that he had not told the mortal everything, but it was soon forgotten. The sound of his laughter was lost in the tumult of battle. After all, what were mortals for, anyway?

As for the mortal, she soon found that defeating her foe was not as simple as she had thought. She had not known of the reinforcements who were, even then, rushing to support the lowland knight, nor could she have imagined having to defeat not one, but a score of mounted samurai before she could remove the mask and rest. By then it was too late, the damage done.

In the present, Urd watched as Kidori wrapped the mask in its silk wrappings and stored it carefully away, then the Norn turned to her companion.

"What were you thinking?" she inquired, with only the faintest hint of a teasing smile. "You knew someone would notice, eventually."

"We gods of Asgard are above petty worries," Loki sniffed. "We leave that stuff to you Norns. You are so good at it."

"I'll bet," Urd smirked, then added, "No regrets?"

"Only a tiny one. That lady warrior turned out to be quite a fighter, so maybe I played her a mean trick. I do have a conscience, I'll have you know."

"Only a tiny one," agreed Urd, a teasing lilt softening her stern expression. "So, now we have to set things right. Why did you change your mind, anyway?"

Loki flinched. "Freya greeted me as we passed in the common recently. She said to fix it," he spoke grimly.

"That motherly old dear? Since when did you ever listen to her?"

"You didn't see the look she gave me! Why, that woman could freeze eagles out of the air at fifty miles! Brrrrr!"

Urd chuckled. "Freya doesn't like anyone messing with her threads," she said, then dimpled. "Why didn't you simply charm her with your line of bull?"

"She was adamant! You don't know her like I do - we go back a long way. Mortals who offend her get sent to the old ladies with the scissors - we gods get more preferential treatment." With a shiver, he hitched up his breechs. Movement in the park caught his eye, and he said abruptly, "I have to leave. Don't want to be seen, here."

Urd jerked her head as an unseen clangor arose behind her, and she said, "I'll have to go as well. Something has disturbed my watchdog. Hey, hold on! I said I was coming!" A three-headed dog, which sprang from nowhere, grabbed the hem of her garment and towed her toward invisibility. "You just wait, Lykos! You rip a seam and you're history! Darn it, that's the last time I sign up for that retrieval service!" cried Urd as she vanished.

Loki stepped back into shadows as a man came along the path, then slowly eased back into the light. "Have a nice trip?" he asked.

"As the goddess said, 'it is better to leave the past alone,'" the man said.

"I'd advise you to listen to her. Are you still with us?"

The man nodded and wiped an eye with his kerchief. He added, "But still, to see her one last time..."

"You mortals are a sentimental lot, I might say."

"Yes, but you can't leave us alone, can you?"

Loki gave him a crooked grin. "The human race is full of pomp and pretense, good intentions and bad aim. What good is all that if you can't stir things up once in a while?"

The man lit a cigarette, sent a blue cloud towards the stars. "Ready for the next step?" he asked.

"You're sure you're up for this?" Loki raised his hands, palm out. "Last chance to get another patsy."

"I'm the only one she'd go for," the man said. He stubbed out the butt and said his farewell.

Loki nodded in return as the mortal man left the park entrance, then glanced beyond. Someone else was coming. He needed to be somewhere else, but the chance to observe the upcoming encounter was too tempting. With a wriggle, he shrank to the size of a woodsmouse and climbed a bush to watch.

HIROSHI:

"I keep thinking that I can go to her step-mother and challenge her," I said. "If I could beat her, she might let Kidori go."

Ranma was dubious as we emerged from the dark into a well lighted avenue. "Ya mean y'd beat up an old woman? I know y'got a lot of skill, Hiroshi, but yain't been that kinda guy, before. Ain't that abusing yer power?"

"Trust me. This old lady can take care of herself. She almost got me the first time I met her." Ugly, too, although I did not say this out loud. What was it with the ugly old women who tried to beat up on me? When Ranma fought, he got good opponents - martial artists. Loons with deadly weapons. Half-dragons able to lay waste to the country-side.

What did I get? Old witches. Ugly stepmothers. And homocidal sweethearts.

We were passing through a shopping district when I saw Ranma stop and look about, as if testing the air. I sniffed. I could smell nothing, but I could feel a prickling sensation, as if there were somthing dangerous lurking nearby.

"Aha! And now we have you!" From the doorway of a pachinko parlor stomped two not inconsiderable hulks. I ammended my premonition. Not dangerous. There had been something very annoying lurking nearby.

"Oi, Hirosh," Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Friends a'yers?"

"Sumo fans," I replied, stopping short. I was not going to get drawn into another fight, tonight. I had suffered enough. There was a limit to what a girl had to put up with, and I had reached mine. I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead, which had begun to throb. What was I thinking?

Anyway, I was NOT going to fight. I would refuse.

Tengu started in on me. "Got boyfriend, eh? Not so lucky, this time! Now we beat you, beat boyfriend!"

"My friend feels he has suffered sharply at your hand," Matsayouru explained. "As have I, though I feel honored to have been defeated by a person of your skill. May we try you again? We promise to end it as quickly and painlessly as possible."

"Forget it. I'm not going to fight!" I said, gritting my teeth.

"Go kiss boyfriend," demanded Tengu, shoving me toward Ranma. "Kiss him bye-bye. We stomp him next!"

My face flushed hot with embarrassment as Ranma tensed.

"I've had enough of this," Ranma growled. "A martial artist has a duty to protect the weak!"

"Hey!" I recovered from my discomfort to snap at him, "You don't get it, do you? I am NOT helpless!"

"Oh, yeah?" he glanced at me. "Just how would you handle it, huh?"

"First, I don't fight when I don't have to."

Tengu shoved me again with his meaty hands. I stumbled flailing into Ranma, who caught me and pushed me back between the two behemoths.

I sighed, morosely. That's who I got to fight with. My girlfriend. Old, ugly witches and stepmothers. Two large, stubborn, obnoxious, correspondence course sumo-wannabees.

My knuckles crackled as I closed my dainty hands into fists. "What the hell," I growled. "Sometimes you have to."

The two pseudo-sumos moved into action at a run, having planned their attack. They came at me from both sides, trapping me between them, a walnut caught between pincers the size of earthmovers. Their faces gleamed with supreme confidence and painful intentions as they closed in.

When they were close enough, I reached out, grabbed a collar in each hand and yanked, ducking out out of the way at the last instant. Two heads collided with a meaty 'klonk' and two bodies 'whumped' to the ground. We walked away as they lay groaning.

"Must be some kind of step-mother to know martial arts. Y'know, there's something about this I oughta be rememberin', but I just can't think of it," Ranma said as we resumed our walk. He looked back at the mound of pain and added, "Gotta admit, you got yer own style."

"She has some kind of hold over Kidori, and somehow she got this mask," I said with determination, "I'll get it away from her, but first I have to figure out how!"

WHAT LOKI SAW:

Mara regarded the monk before her and and laughed, "Well, well, well! If it isn't my least favorite lardass monk! Are you going to try to stop me again?"

"I am afraid that I must," Basho nodded politely. "I am truly sorry for pouring the 'goodness goop' on you. It is SO difficult to predict how a good deed will turn out."

"You should be sorry, you imbecile! It took me hours to get that crap off of me! Just look what it did to me!"

Basho regarded her with concern, then lowered his gaze. "It went farther than I feared," he said, folding his arms and bowing. "I regret that I have had to take advantage of your situation, my good demoness."

"In your dreams, fat boy!" growled Mara. The alleyway rang with the sound of her heels striking the pavement as she stomped away from the monk. She hesitated and looked back at him, but he held his humble bow, albeit with a wary eye toward her. He seemed, indeed, almost apologetic.

He was sorry for her? Impossible! She growled, deep in her throat, a rumble that had sent lesser mortals fleeing for safety - or, she added grimly to herself, to preserve their manhood - but the monk ignored the sound. Snorting, she turned away.

She should bend the rules, just a little. Make him dance as she set fire to his plump bottom. Show him what happened when mortals interfered in affairs beyond their comprehension. This time, she would do more than immerse him in a vat of rancid honey - just as soon as she finished with his sensei.

Again, she stopped, listening to the echoes of her footsteps, trying to catch the dissonance. The footsteps sounded almost timid. For some reason, the walls did not shiver when she passed by, the returning sound waves did not cause pebbles to dance on the alley floor.

She crinkled her nose, quit trying to identify the cause, snorted again and resumed her march, stomping as hard as she could, working herself into a satisfactory rage with which to confront the man standing ahead of her in the park.

"You! You're the headmaster of that stupid temple school!" she bellowed.

The man bowed courteously, while maintaining a wary eye. "You honor me with the energy of your attempt," he said in a pleasant voice. "Even though you have been doomed to failure the whole time."

Mara laughed, wicked, wild, and loud. "I have not yet failed, rank mortal! You will weep when you fully comprehend the fearful doom I have engineered for you! I will bring you down, yet!"

"You may yet try, and I am bound, by my own code, to accept this. Who knows?" he smiled, "Perhaps you may succeed. I love to see someone strive against overwhelming odds and win, even if it is to my detriment."

"And from which of your schools did THAT thought come?"

Mara was becoming aware of her surroundings, and even more so of the reflections from nearby store windows. "What is THIS?" she yipped, "I can see myself? That's a baby, there!"

"When you cast the recovery spell to remove the effects of your 'goodness affliction', you over-compensated, thinking that you had been hit with one hundred percent pure goodness and niceness," Mara heard another voice, only this one was feminine. A hated voice. A repulsive voice. A croaking, silkily putrid, vomitous, stinking...

"Urd!" cried Mara.

"Basho has a talent, but he has not yet learned discernment. You did not allow for a taint of selfishness, and, as a result, you have reverted to an immature status while you contemplate your failure," Urd continued, holding up her own PDA, which displayed a portion of the heavenly records on an etheric scroll.

"But...but what are you doing here? How did you learn about this?"

"Oh, I was only doing my job," Urd laughed merrily, and the echoes bore an uncanny resemblence to Mara's own previous mirth. "And I quit wasting time looking for that worm I thought you snuck into Yygdrasill - once I remembered that there has always been a worm there, since the beginning."

"You won't stop me!" cried Mara. "I will find that pig and get that PDA, if it's the last thing I do!"

"Of course. Be my guest. Good luck, though. I'm going to find him first."

"You'll be laughing out of the other side of your face when I get through with you!" Mara gathered energy, her eyes gleaming with Purpose.

"Oh, I don't think so," grinned the platinum haired goddess, as she waved the demoness on. "Go ahead. Do your worst."

Mara hurled her worst at the smiling goddess, and to the demonesses' horror, the result was an infantile puff of fire and smoke. "I've reverted to immaturity!" she screeched, "I'm a teen-ager again!"

As Urd faded into the video static, Mara heard her deep chuckle, "You'll get over it. But I am going to remember the look on your face for a long, long time!"

"You're going to regret this!" Mara bleated. "I can't go through my teens again! It's unthinkable! I'll get it reversed! I'll carry it to the highest...Ooooo! Look at those chic fashions in the store windows!"

End: Chapter Thirteen


	14. Words That Make a Woman

Disclaimer: No gerbils have been harmed in the writing of this fanfic, except for 'Pierre' and 'Gwendolyn' and 'Murgatroyd', who disappeared following a visit by Azusa and have not been seen since. 

ASHES - A Cinderella Story

Chapter Fourteen - Words That Make a Woman

Threads we've chosen from the skein  
Weave a pattern in between  
The shuttle dances end to end  
Chapter Fourteen's set to spin.

HEAVEN WON'T BE HEAVEN WITHOUT YOU:

They entered like two battlers in the showdown of a grade 'B' movie, from opposite ends of the public refreshment facility.

Slowly they stalked towards each other, their faces a mask of concentration. As they moved, they divested themselves of any encumbrances that might get in the way when they went into action. At last they were face to face.

The smaller of the two frowned furiously. She turned aside and stepped off the stone ledge, growling, "That Loki made it sound like a game, and now everything is going wrong! I got wished into the badlands, out past the yonder pits, and had to climb out. Then I got splashed with some noxious goop that screwed up my appearance. I was an old hag, then I started getting younger. Now look at me! If I hadn't washed it off, I'd be in diapers!"

A very youthful Mara slipped into the water. She submerged her head beneath the steaming waters of the hot springs so she did not hear Urd's reply. Minutes later, Mara emerged to sputter, "Chemicals! Even here they use chemicals?"

"Fragrances," Urd corrected her, a tiny quirk to her lips. "You mean you actually believed Loki? I suppose that cute stunt warning me about a worm virus in Yygdrasil was his idea."

"Of course it was his lame idea! I would have done better! And, of course I don't trust Loki! But he appealed to Lord Twoface, who backed up his request."

Urd's grin broadened. "I'll bet you've never heard of Lord Twoface before. New devil in the office?"

Mara hesitated, glowering. "He came from one of the darker reaches, I heard."

"Let me tell you something. I've seen Loki-sama get tight at parties and do his 'splitting image' trick. One time he performed a wresting match by himself - an ogre and a rock-dragon. Oh, and he played the referee, as well."

"Oh, who cares? I have my own problems! Nothing I've tried will nullify this spell! I'm stuck as a juvenile!"

"Awww. I thought you looked cute. About thirteen?"

"Grrrrr...If I wasn't supposed to be working with you, I'd..."

"Oh, all right, fourteen. Steady down, I'll talk to Loki about it. Maybe he knows what made it stick," Urd made no attempt to hurry, nor to hide her mirth. "You want me to tell him you've had enough?"

Mara slung water about as she shook her head. "I'm going to play this thing out!" she declared. "You can't get rid of me that easy!"

Standing with arms akimbo, Urd watched sunlit reflections from the pool play across alabaster columns. "Oh, by the way," she added thoughtfully, "Since we are working together' - Morisato is still off limits. You'll leave him alone?"

Mara pursed her lips pensively, stuck out her chin and looked Urd square in the eye. "No," she replied.

Urd smiled thinly. "Just so we understand each other."

"I understand. Wimp!"

"Care for a little bet?"

"Eh?" Mara lifted her head to peer at her, "What kind of a bet?"

"Oh, that you don't get your man."

"I'll get him!"

"Two bottles of sake."

"You're on! Oh, and I'll get that stupid PDA you tied around the pig, too."

Urd looked blank for a moment, then answered automatically, "Fat chance!" She grimaced at the time on her wrist display. "Gotta go. Don't bother seeing me to the door, I'll just leave you a little entertainment." She pressed a button on a bejeweled box and dropped it onto the bricks as she left. From speakers within the box came a tinny disco beat, swelling in volume.

Mara held her ears and railed, "You rat! You know I can't help dancing to disco! I'll fall on my ass if I have to jump around in this water and...hey, waitaminute..." Urd was almost out of earshot when the timbre of Mara's voice changed from rage to gloating.

"That's one thing you won't use on me, next time!" Mara exulted maliciously. "It's time for me to go into the final phase of my plan, and you won't delay me! Temporary loss of my powers can't stop me! A few items from my workshop, and I will succeed!" Of course, the fact that her maniacal demonic laughter was expressed in an adolescent falsetto voice might have made it sound a little less ominous.

The Norn of the Past was too occupied with other things to notice. "Maybe it's about time I checked that temp's background," Urd said to herself as she left the bathhouse.

BLACK CLOUD HANGING OVER MY HEAD:

If earth did met heaven, what would they play? If heaven did meet earth, what would they say?

"There you are! Right where I thought you would be! Can I call them, or what?"

Ryoga, who found himself facing a beautiful, platinum-haired goddess, froze in his steps and said, "What?"

"Did you know that you are one very, very difficult person to track down?" Urd took him companionably by the elbow and steered him off the street, through the wayfarers shopping at the open market.

"Uhhhnn...no?" Ryoga scratched behind his ear as he thought over his situation. This contemplation included being chased all over Japan by a demoness, being yelled at and slapped by countless women who felt that their wishes were taken too literally, being grumped at by countless men because their wishes were not taken literally enough, being chased by children who figured out that he was involved when wishes were granted, being chased by hungry animals and people because he was a pig, being turned into a pig because of Ranma, when all the time he was in love with Akane who did not know he existed. In short, the contemplation took all of two seconds, after which Ryoga shouted, "I wish you'd take this magic stuff away from me!"

"Now, that I can do. In fact," Urd added, "This is the reason I have been looking for you, to take back your bracelet and to drain this power out of your aura." She raised a slender tree-branch, tapped Ryoga on the head three times, and said, "There. That should do it."

"Take this thing!" Ryoga said, attempting to remove the bracelet from his wrist and shove it toward her. The bracelet remained stuck to his hand as if it had been glued, even though he shook it fiercely. He glared at it and blurted, "I can't turn loose of it!"

"Oops," Urd said. "The 'remove bracelet' spell doesn't seem to be working. No matter. You won't be able to grant any more wishes, and Mara shouldn't be chasing you anymore. Keep the trinket as a souvenir."

Ryoga stopped struggling and looked at her hopefully. He asked, "Does that mean that I am back to normal?"

"Absolutely," Urd replied smugly as she wrapped the twig and stored it away.

Ryoga turned to the nearest stone wall and prodded it with a finger. He proclaimed, "Bakusai tenketsu!" He then gaped in dismay at the huge balls of fuzzy glitter drifting down from the ashen sky.

"That - is not supposed to happen, is it?" Urd asked, one hand to her mouth. There were tiny sparkles to the glitter, incandescent trails scripted gold. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Ryoga merely shook his head from side to side, watching the descending spheres. One popped into sparks before his eyes and evaporated into a glowing mist.

------------

"We need to test this," said Urd. "Of course, it won't prove anything if I were to make a wish, so we'll have to find a human subject."

Ryoga nodded mutely and followed her as she approached a street vendor who was taking down the sign from his cart. The man worked slowly, blinking tiredly as he finished tying up his goods. He brightened at the sight of a beautiful woman.

Urd positioned Ryoga by the vendor and asked, "If you could have anything you wanted, what would you wish?"

The vendor eyed her appreciatively, evaluated his own capabilities, and yawned, "I am a simple man, tired from a long day's work. I would wish for something small, and simple. If I could have anything I wanted, I would wish for..."

He fell over his cart, fast asleep.

"That was...strange," Urd said, uneasily. They went to look for another test subject.

Ryoga scratched his head again, looking back at the dozing vendor. "Probably wanted to sleep for a week," he suggested.

"That's it! But why did it happen before he could even finish? Apparently, you still have the wish power, but it seems somehow distorted," Urd thought frantically, then said, "It's as if something were augmenting it. Did Basho do anything to you?"

"Well," Ryoga slogged along in thought for a moment. "He did stop a tree from attacking me. He said it was the work of a demoness."

Urd hesitated, disturbed by a growing suspicion. "What kind of a tree?" she asked, unwrapping the slender branch and showing it to him.

"That's it! It was an ash."

"Oh, no! When he stopped the tree from attacking you, he somehow slipped part of his spell onto you. Now, when I tried to remove the spell, using an ash twig, the spell changed."

Ryoga eyed her. "Is that bad?" he wondered.

"Actually, it depends on how the spell has been changed," Urd said, raising a finger as she enumerated the possibilities. "One: It could be a good change."

"I wish this dust would settle!" cried a shopkeeper who was sweeping down the sidewalk in front of his store. For one minute there was an inundation of biblical proportions.

"Two: On the other hand..." Urd held up another finger, dripping wet. She looked around for Ryoga.

"Buue?" There was a little black piglet looking up at her, with a yellow bandana and a charm bracelet about his neck.

"Pork!" cried a nearby butcher, who closed and locked his store with the speed derived from hard training under a master's tutelage. The butcher then raised a cleaver and approached. "Here, piggy, piggy!"

"Bueeee!" Ryoga was gone, pursued by the butcher.

"Hey, wait a minute!" called Urd, spinning around. "Where did he go? This could get bad!"

HIROSHI (SUSPICION):

I was still shape-shifted when I arrived back at my apartment. I would have simply walked in, but my augmented senses warned me that someone was waiting inside, watching the front door.

So I went around and sneaked in the back, the better to raid the refrigerator. Hey, a guy has to keep up his strength, doesn't he? Besides, I had been doing all that martial arts stuff. I was shoveling it in when I switched back to myself and my clothes got all tangled. Juggling orange juice, snack and tablecloth, I didn't spill a drop. Some things I could do better as myself.

With my mouth full I turned and there were Mom and Pops, standing like temple statues.

Mom had a determined look on her face. It was the last scene of Act II, the critical confrontation.

"Hiroshi-chan," she announced, "we have to talk."

"Right now?" I mumbled around the remains of a rice ball. How long had they been standing there? Had they seen a slim, trim athletic girl slip into the kitchen and metamorph into their son? Was that why they were looking so grim?

"First, we have to tell you..." Mom was doing the talking. Pops was standing like a rock in the middle of the door, blocking my escape, and he let Mom have her say immediately. That was bad. Usually, Mom would let Pops bluster until he ran down, then she would step in and said what she was going to say in the first place.

She continued, "We have to tell you, son, that you won't be bothered by that girl, anymore."

"Heh," I tried to swallow, but my throat was dry. "What girl?" I finally coughed.

"That's the spirit, my boy!" Pops burst out, but a cold look from Mom deflated him. "I said the wrong thing, huh?" he asked her.

She snubbed him to return her intense focus on me. "We have taken steps to remove a...a...a malignant influence from you and your room," Mom said. "Tomorrow, we shall warn your school officials of the danger."

"Aww, Mom," I said with a big, brave grin. "I haven't been in any danger!"

I hesitated. I could never lie to Mom. Yes, I had been in danger.

"Anyway, not from any girl!"

Another hesitation, as she regarded me with one eye almost closed. Yes, I admitted to myself. From a girl.

"At least, not THAT girl," I amended weakly, digging myself in even deeper.

Mom was wearing her most fearsome expression. "Hiroshi-chan," she breathed, "that is what we must talk about." Pops stood aside and fidgeted, trying to look aloof.

"Son, your father and I have to ask you some questions. Frankly, Hiroshi-chan, you have been acting rather strangely lately, and..."

"What's that in your hands, my boy?" Pops blurted.

"This? Oh. Heh," Mom could always make me talk. Then, after I started talking, Pops would blind-side me. I was never any good at dodging Pop's questions. He had a way of boring straight through my answers. "It's sort of a tablecloth from the Cat Cafe," I stammered. "Wrapped around a robe I borrowed from Mousse."

"What are you doing with their tablecloth?" Mom wanted to know, while Pops zeroed in on another area.

"Robe?" he wanted to know. "I thought it looked like a dress. A girl's dress!"

"It belongs to a guy, Pops. I borrowed it from him."

"Him?" he appeared relieved, but only momentarily. With a twitch to his left eye, he demanded, "Ain't Mousse that effeminate waiter from that joint where your friends hang out?"

"You're thinking about Konatsu, Pops," I said. "He works at Ucchan's, but he hasn't been seen for the last few days."

"Why would you take their tablecloth?" Mom asked, covering her mouth in apprehension. "Did something come over you and make you steal it?"

"I only borrowed it, Mom!"

"But whatever for?"

I bit my lip, wanting to tell the truth. Mom had that effect on me. She could compel a master spy to give up his secrets. Life would have been so much more convenient if I could have complied. However, I could imagine what would happen if I were to tell them:

'i wanted to be sure i was covered up, mom.' 'why?' 'well, the last time i turned into a girl, i was wearing underwear.' 'shriek!' mom would collapse. 'son, why were you wearing that sissy chinese robe? get your mom some water. she fainted.' (pops would ignore anything in my conversation with mom that he did not understand. including the part about turning into a girl.) 'because the tablecloth disappeared with the rest of my clothes, pop.' 'you were running around nude? what's wrong with that?' 'i was a girl at the time, pop.' 'so you had to steal this sissy robe? that's not very manly!'

"It's for a class play," I lied. "Tomorrow. They put me on the scenery committee and told me to provide part of the costumes."

"Oh, that's good," Mom said, very relieved. "I wish we could see your play, but we won't have time."

"We're only looking out for your welfare, boy." Pops said, his doubtful eyes still on the bundle in my arms.

"Yes, there are such terrible things out in the world, waiting to pounce upon our children," Mom said. "That is why we worry about the way you have been sneaking around, and hiding, and closing us out of your life. It is important that I can rely on you, especially now, when..."

"Are you doing drugs, boy?" Pops interjected.

"What?" As upset as I was about worrying Mom, having Pops distrust me sent a shock wave to the center of my being.

"We will talk about it tomorrow night," Mom said, pressing her palm to her forehead in real or dramatized pain. On my way up the stairs, I looked back and saw them huddled in conversation, watching me. Hainoko's door was closed.

LONG DISTANCE INFORMATION:

Urd adjusted the transcendental headset and commanded, "System."

The responding voice was high, lilting, "Accessing."

"Ring Zero."

"Accessing."

"Peorth."

"Speaking," the voice solidified into granite.

"I'd like a little information on what I'm doing," Urd began, intimidated in spite of herself. She did not enjoy being intimidated. It rankled that Peorth was her probation officer for readmission into the Relief Service. Since Peorth had taken on a position near the main control, she had become...obsessive. More so than usual.

"You are handling a console on the Goddess Relief Line. Speaking of which, there have been a few - minor - fluctuations reported, lately."

Urd felt a bead of sweat on her temple. She definitely did not like being intimidated. "I'm also helping a friend, a high- ranking deity. I don't feel I have all the data I should have been given."

Peorth seldom laughed much anymore. However, there was a grim humor in her reply, "I would hardly call Loki a 'high-ranking' anything. You're taking a chance getting mixed up with him."

"I choose my friends," growled Urd. "What's wrong with Loki?"

"Let's just say he has a few character traits that are...not exactly aligned with absolute truth."

Urd set her teeth, holding back her automatic response. To Peorth, all character traits were flawed, except her own 'holier than thou' attitude.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" Urd said, hurriedly. "I need some information regarding Loki's arrangements."

"Denied."

"I'd like to speak to him, at least."

"Denied."

"All right. Since I have your ear, I have been trying to reach Belldandy and she is not available."

"In conference. Out of deference for her assignment, the meeting is being held at an educational facility on Earth."

"Skuld?"

"Also in the meeting."

"Then why the...heaven...wasn't I invited to this meeting?"

Peorth's reply was sardonic, "You had duties. Speaking of which, I see you are involving a mortal in your dealings with Loki. Surely you realize what jeopardy that entails, should your 'temporary services' cause trouble."

"I'll take responsibility for whatever he's done," growled Urd. "You can bust my chops all you want to, but leave the hired help out of it, okay?"

"Your privilege - and your responsibility. We are holding them blameless, for the moment. You're the one who got creative with her duties in the relief office. You weren't included in the access list since we expected you to be very busy cleaning up your mess." The ice in Peorth's smile was almost visible as she continued, "I have located Loki, but he had to attend some important negotiations and he isn't available to explain anything. Haven't you gotten the drift, yet? You have more pressing matters to attend, such as reducing the fluctuation on your...oh, my!"

"What?" Puzzled, Urd looked around the chamber and suddenly backed away. "Yike!" she added, "I'll get back to you." She immediately summoned her non-cooperative monk helper.

FLATTERY, SEDUCTION, AND BRIBERY (GIVE ME MONEY):

"Just what are you up to, Daddy?" Nabiki was breathing heavily as she slid behind a column. The building was a museum which had recently opened a display of aquatic fauna. Soun was standing near the entrance, talking to a tall, statuesque woman in an concealing costume.

Soun had proved elusive, a quality for which Nabiki had never given him credit. After leaving Hiroshi at the Cat Cafe, she had spotted her father through a crowd of shoppers and had given chase. Once he had stopped to chat with someone in a robe, but she could not get close enough without being seen to recognize the other person. Twice, Soun had glanced about as if expecting discovery, and each time he had melted into the crowd while Nabiki was trying to make herself invisible.

As Soun scanned the area a third person appeared, and they all seemed to vanish.

"Dang! They gave me the slip again! I'm almost certain that was Miss Hinako with Daddy, and after he told us he wasn't interested in her!" Nabiki fumed for a moment, "I'm going to find out where you go to, Daddy! I swear I won't give up until I do!"

Pre-occupied with her fuming, she almost ran into another person. Since this person was only a little over a meter tall, Nabiki had to bend over to speak to her.

"Hainoko-chan! What are you doing out here all alone? Where are your parents?"

Hainoko looked solemnly up at her, extended her lower lip, and said, "Mommy don't know I'm running away."

"Oh, great," moaned Nabiki. "I've got a father going through his second childhood, a client who's more trouble than Ranma, and now I'm stuck with taking care of a runaway!"

"You don't have to take care of me," the little runaway backed off.

"I'm stuck with you. See, ordinarily, I'd just turn and walk away, or call a policeman, or something. But I made a stupid wish that I didn't know was a wish and 'bam!'. You're like flypaper. You show up everywhere I turn! I can't get rid of you! Why can't you just stay home?"

"Hiroshi hates me," replied Hainoko, softly. "Mommy is all tired from taking care of both me and Hiroshi. Maybe if I go away, Mommy will get better. It don't matter. Nobody cares, anyway."

"Oh, yes, they do!" Nabiki surprised herself by shouting, "Don't you ever think that! Of course they love you! Your mother is going to be hysterical when she finds you missing!" Grabbing a small hand, she turned Hainoko around to face the way she had come and added, "You're headed home, right now!"

"Um...if I have to," Hainoko agreed reluctantly, seeing that she had no choice.

"Listen to me, Shrimp. Go home. Your mommy is going to want you there, I promise you. Will you do that? What are you looking at?"

"Your hair."

"There's nothing wrong with my hair!" Nabiki flared.

"I know. I wish my hair looked like yours. Mine is all long and tangly, and Mommy gets so tired brushing it."

"Yeah, you're cute, too. Come on. I'm taking you home."

"Okay. I'm getting sleepy, anyway."

Nabiki jumped a startled foot into the air as a short dumpling of a woman, dressed in a kimono of finest silk, burst out of the shrubbery.

"Welcome!" cried the woman. Nabiki recognized her as the twin's mother she had visited in her capacity as Cinderella's agent.

"Welcome!" repeated the matronly woman. "I am terribly sorry! I never properly introduced myself when we spoke, earlier! My name is Gouman, but you can call me Gouman-chan! Can I get you some refreshments?"

"Gouman-CHAN?" Nabiki blinked. She looked again at the woman's dumpy appearance, frowzy hair and tight-lipped, shrewish face. "Oh, sure," she muttered. "And you can call me Her Serenity, Queen Nabiki the Magnificent."

"I'm sorry, Dear. I didn't quite catch what you were saying."

"Never mind. How are you going to get refreshments in the middle of the night?"

"Oh, forgive me! Prepare my hospitality!" Gouman-chan's bodyguards, Tengu and Matsoyuro, appeared at once. They whipped back a curtain and exhibited a tiny ice cream parlor, complete with a table and chairs. From behind the counter they produced bowls of golden vanilla ice cream crowned with fruit and chocolate, one for Nabiki and one for Hainoko.

"I presume there is a reason you are offering this to me," Nabiki said, warily.

"When I make a mistake, I say it!" Gouman declared. "And now, I admit that I was wrong! You had every right to walk out on my offer, and I am here to tell you that I am going to make everything right!"

Nabiki stopped with the first spoonful dripping chocolate sauce over the fine embroidered tablecloth. "Exactly how 'right' are you planning to make it?" she wondered aloud.

Gouman chuckled, in good humor. "Why, anything you want it to be! There is more than one way for us to get what we both want," she purred. "There is a fantastic swimming pool here on the estate. You could host parties here, I would pick up the bill, and you could invite all your friends. If you wanted, you could even charge them admission."

"You'd pay for the refreshments?"

"My husband owns a catering service, a movie theater, a radio station, a limousine service, candy shops, dress shops. He could be very generous if I dropped a word in his ear. He's such a sweet, giving man."

"A giving man is nice," Nabiki reflected, glancing about the impromptu shop with its expensive decorations, brand labels showing.

"But there is something I would like to ask you to do," continued the matron as she brought out another triple tiered multi- flavored sundae. "It would mean SO much to my sweet daughters if your friend would sing for their birthday party."

"That shouldn't be too much trouble," Nabiki mused as she licked the spoon and contemplated the second frozen confection. "After all, I AM her agent."

"They both are WILD about any kind of music, being children, and they begged me to get Cinderella. You know how children are."

"Um," Nabiki nodded before savoring the nougat ripple. Hainoko had stopped eating after the first statement and was following Gouman-chan with her eyes while her lower lip protruded.

Gouman-chan continued, "Once they get something in their head, they just have to get their way. Their father and I will pay anything to satisfy them."

"'Pay anything' sounds good, too."

"And you will be their hero! You'll be bringing them their favorite singer! They'll probably use up their entire allowance to pay you to bring her back! Their allowance is in six figures, of course. Each. Weekly."

Six figures. At a minimum, that made 100,000 yen per week. Multiply that by two. If Hiroshi's misfortune continued for several more weeks, that might mean... Nabiki reached for another bite as the money accumulated in her mind. Hainoko's solemn face interfered with her calculations and she had to do them over.

"And, so, if, while she's singing for the party, if you could get your friend to sing an extra song or two...you know, just for a few friends."

"A few friends," Nabiki looked up at her.

"Very dear friends."

"With expensive recording equipment."

"They would SO love to have a souvenir of the event. You'd get a commission for each one, of course. Just sign here. No need to read the fine print."

"For how long?"

"For you, we could make it forever. Think of it. Every time she sang, you would get paid." Gouman-chan oozed reassurance, expectantly holding forth the paper and a glittering gold pen.

A huge cherry poised on a chocolate plateau before oozing toward the cliff edge. Nabiki watched it toboggan down the vanilla slope as she debated with herself. She had seen that look before, the calculating fire in Gouman-chan's eyes. A sudden realization made her forget her caution.

"The wish is not compelling me to refuse!" Nabiki wondered, before she recalled, "That's right! My contract says that I can't go out and look for gigs for Cinderella, but if someone else offers, then I can accept!" And that's an awfully tempting offer!

Hainoko tugged at her elbow to whisper, with a stricken expression, "Please don't do that to Cinderella! Poor Hiroshi will be practically a slave!"

Nabiki had to concede that it was a very simple decision to make. Say 'yes', make a bundle; or say 'no' and keep a bothersome, snotnosed kid from whining.

Kids cry all the time. Who cares? Nobody cared when she was little and she cried. Nobody but Mom...

"Make up your mind. I can't keep this offer open forever!" Gouman-chan declared. "After all, I have a lot of other rock stars I could invite. Why, I hear Rock Cliff is very available, since Primrose has become so popular."

Nabiki took one look at Hainoko's brimming tears, then at Gouman-chan's face. Yes, she had seen that look before. In a mirror. She clamped her jaw tightly and growled between clenched teeth, "Aw, crap."

"Well? What's it to be?"

"I'll have to think about it," Nabiki rose from the elegant chair with the price-label dangling and pushed the pen away from her as it were made of gold. Solid, heavy gold. With diamonds embedded, in the kanji for Tendo, Nabiki.

"You're leaving? I can't believe this! You'll pay! Worse yet, your rock star will pay!" Gouman-chan indicated the pseudo-sumo brothers, who grinned malevolently and cracked their knuckles in anticipation.

"That's a chance he'll have to take," Nabiki told them. "C'mon, Brat, let's take you home. You've already cost me a night's work and maybe millions in yen."

Hainoko watched behind as she was carried away, twisting in Nabiki's arms to keep the matron and her bodyguards in sight. Then she turned to peer at the taut face of her bearer.

"Thank you, Aunty Nabiki," she whispered.

"Don't try to butter me up, Kid. I'm still angry with you!"

HELP (I need somebody):

Waves of unease tinged in anger radiated off the silver-haired woman. Basho waited nervously as a no-longer seductive goddess paced back and forth in front of a large stony mass. Eventually, Urd stopped pacing and commanded, "Read the message. On the block."

He took in the gleaming letters, 'Suggest you maintain control of wish expenditure,' etched into the one-ton mass and gasped, "THIS is a message?"

"Your replacement, Ryoga, has begun to act...oddly," Urd said. "Kami-sama noticed."

"Kami-sama blasts boulders to send messages?" Basho gaped in disbelief, even as he edged toward the exit. Urd caught him and steered him back to the message stone.

"No, Kami-sama is not so subtle," Urd assured him. "But Kami-sama noticed, and someone noticed that Kami-sama noticed, and so on down the line. This - " she patted the sleek stone facing, " - is a routine memo block telling me to do something. Since you are partly responsible, I thought you might want to join in." The steel in her gaze told Basho that he had just volunteered, "You ARE going to help me do something, aren't you?"

The pudgy monk nodded quickly and violently.

"Exactly what DID you use in your spell to protect my wishbringer from Mara?" she asked.

"A rune of benediction, a scribble of heavenly protection, and a word of command to leave him alone." Basho beamed, glad that she seemed to be impressed with his acts. Good deeds were the foundation of his temple's teachings, and he had apparently executed his task well.

Unfortunately, he was having trouble keeping his attention away from her predominant features, or rather from her garments and what they were displaying in provocative glory. It did not help that she insisted on standing close and leaning toward him.

"Benediction?" Urd leveled great, gray, questioning eyes at him.

"Oh, yes! It is not good to take something from another creature without offering something else in its place."

"Command?" She leaned closer yet and Basho, eyes bulging, began to sweat.

"I...I told the tree to refrain from trying to influence the wish bringer."

"Protection?"

Basho beamed again and bobbed his shiny head.

Urd tapped her fingers against her hip. Since the garment boasted an elegant cutaway style, Basho's gaze bounced along in sympathetic rhythm. Her frown deepened as she listed Basho's actions, below the level of his hearing.

Finally, she spoke aloud again, "You accomplished a 'scribble of heavenly protection'? Where did you learn this script?"

"Ah...I observed Sensei, one time, when he thought I was not looking."

Urd pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm going to have his ass for being that careless!" she growled. "The trouble is, I don't know if it is part of a larger operation being conducted by - " she paused and looked upward, " - higher authorities, or simple bad luck. Since the beginning of this farce there have been a lot of odd things happening!"

After a few moments, Basho realized that she was watching him, one eyebrow raised. Since he was, in turn, watching her more curvaceous aspects, he gave a guilty start before snapping to a military attention, eyes straight ahead.

"You are dangerous, but I don't have time to go through your training and filter what you should know from what you shouldn't," she said. "Find Ryoga Hibiki. Take your 'protection' off him. And continue to protect him from Mara - only do NOT use 'heavenly script' to do it!"

"Yes Ma'am-sama!" responded Basho, departing with alacrity.

Urd went back to her own search. At the same time she listened closely to her telltales, the anticipation of an actual dispatch from Kami-sama causing a chill of apprehension.

"Oh, for the good old days," she muttered as she zeroed in on the latest pig-sightings.

DEVOTED (To You):

"We're home," announced Hainoko. "You can quit hugging me and put me down, now."

"I wasn't hugging you!" Nabiki protested, releasing her. "I was trying to keep you from falling. If you got a scratch, your mother would make me pay the hospital bill!"

"Okay," Hainoko peered up at her solemnly. "I'll go in alone. I don't want them to know I've been out."

"Oh, yeah, now that you mention it, how's your Mom? Not that I care, but..."

"She has to rest a lot. Bye."

"Bye, Runt. And stay away from me. I don't want you around. You bother me."

"Okay, 'Biki-san. Be careful going home."

"I will. Don't get caught."

"Bye."

"Bye...arrrgh! I'm leaving! I'm going!"

Nabiki watched as the little girl shinnied up the tree trunk and slipped into her own bedroom window. She sighed and turned to head home, growling, "Now I'm worrying about her falling out of a tree while climbing in a window! I'm going to KILL Ryoga for this!"

From an open apartment window came a shriek, "My baby! Where is my baby? Hainoko's gone!"

Nabiki stopped to listen to doors slamming, furniture being moved and lights flickering on and off as the apartment was searched. Shortly, Hiroshi called, "Here she is! In the kitchen!"

"What?" came Hainoko's small voice, muffled as if impeded by a bite of sandwich, "I was hungry! What's the big deal?"

Nabiki decided it was time to see if Kasumi had any leftovers in the Tendo family refrigerator. She looked back once, a tiny smile quickly replaced by a scowl as she muttered, "Brat!"

SEARCHIN':

The little black pig had to be close.

Urd flew down the narrow lanes, seeking frantically. As she flew, she muttered, "I will not panic, I will not panic, I will not panic..."

She overheard:

"This just in!" warbled a television announcer, "Authorities are baffled by strange events across all of Tokyo - foreign princes and princesses, new automobiles, handsome men and beautiful women dressed in outlandish and ancient garb, piles of gold and jewelry have all appeared from nowhere, and for fifteen minutes the entire structure of Tokyo tower appeared to be built of...I don't understand...does this say 'peppermint candy'?"

"Ohboy," Urd hissed through clenched teeth as she hurried on.

A child's cry: "Mommy, I want a pet monkey!"

-poof-

A mother's screech: "Get that gorilla away from my child!"

A vendor's lament: "Hey, leave my bananas alone!"

An enthusiastic endorsement for bananas: "Hooh-hooh-hooh..."

Urd increased her pace, "I'm getting close. Not time to panic, yet. I can still find him and stop him. No panic. No panic..."

A child's cry: "Daddy, can I have a boat?"

-poof-

An ocean liner's song: "BWOOOOOOOTT!"

A vendor's lament: "Yaaaaaaah! There's a steamship in the duckpond!"

Urd jerked her head around at the distant, angry growl of thunder.

"Okay, time to panic, time to panic. Basho! Where the heaven are you?"

And time passed until the next morning, the hour when punctual students were preparing for school.

CRYSTAL BLUE PERSUASION:

"Akane!"

He staggered now and then as he made his way through the tangled undergrowth, his steps dragging with fatigue. One thought kept him going, one word on his lips - Akane.

Life hangs by a thread in the jungle. One false step and you could be mired in quicksand, or snag your legs in the twisted, tangled thorny vines that litter the jungle floor, or run head on into a deadly fanged beast which will tear you limb from limb.

"R.r.r.r.r.rr..."

Ryoga had known the fear of pursuit. That tiger, crashing through the undergrowth in Burma. The pride of lionesses which had almost surrounded him on the veldt. The...something...which had skittered close behind him across the Himalayan snowpacks, as lightly as a blown leaf, though it must have weighed a quarter of a ton. Lastly, he had been pursued by a butcher. He had fled, as a pint-sized porker, beasts which could have paralyzed the bravest of men.

Sometimes he could hear them, calling from the shadows - fierce, menacing, slavering with blood-lust, wild for vengeance. The very sound of their breathing marked the vicinity of a killer.

Or worse.

"R.r.r.r.r.rr..."

Nothing, however, matched the unease he felt at this rumbling snarl. Every capable martial artist develops a sixth sense which warns him of danger. Sometimes, however, that sense is overshadowed by other emotions. For instance, Ryoga was really, really, sad.

"Why can't I find Akane?"

Hacking his way through the dense tropical undergrowth did not make him feel any better. Still, after a while, even the most severe distractions must subside - especially when the martial artist is about to push through the foliage into the open, where he is subject to attack. Brushing aside the deep green fronds to step over a stream, he paused.

That gurgling, splashing brook.

The grass alongside it had been neatly manicured.

Also, the banks of the stream had been lined with perfectly fitted stones in an attractive arrangement, which led naturally to a paved walkway, where he found -

"R.r.r.r.r.rr..."

"Na...Nabiki Tendo!" Ryoga exclaimed, "What are you doing in Sumatra?"

"Hello, Ryoga," purred Nabiki. "Or, should I say, 'Hello, Dead Meat?'"

"Dead? Meat?" Ryoga squeaked, "What kind of meat?"

Nabiki observed his flinch and pounced, "Oh, I don't know. Chicken. Cow. Pork. Take your pick. Enjoy your last meal."

Ryoga managed to squeal, "Pork? Last meal? Do you know something?"

Nabiki shook her head, not to answer his question but to express annoyance at her own plight. "How about you?" she snapped. "Do you know anything about a certain wish that you granted for me?"

"Ah...no?"

"Oh, come on! You take one little statement out of context, blow it up into an affection for a horrid rugrat, and then you try to pretend you don't know what you did? Why did you run away?"

"I was being chased! By a demon! You'd run, too!"

"Oh, right. Just where was this demon? What does he look like?"

"She was a horrible old hag! With gray, stringy hair, and a jagged nose and ugly face!"

Nabiki stood, chin in hand, tapping the sidewalk with a toe. "And she wants you because..."

"Because I grant w...I can't talk about it! That's how she finds me!"

"If you're trying to make me feel sorry for you, you're going about it the wrong way. I didn't see any old hag after you."

"The last time I got away from her, she was younger than you. She rides around in this black cloud, and..."

"Oh, wait. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I did see someone, about half bimbo and half 'the old woman in the well,'" Nabiki frowned. "You'd better not be lying to me, Hibiki."

"I swear, Nabiki Tendo, I am telling the truth!"

"And where have you been, recently?"

"Ehheh. I was...You want the truth?"

"Unvarnished. Or else."

"With a goddess? Trying to remove my wishing curse?"

Nabiki stared in shock. "You want to run that by me again? It sounded like 'getting my wishing ability removed.'"

"She tried! But it didn't work! Well, it did, sort of. That is, she tried, but it made things worse!"

"And now, you can't grant wishes? You put me off with a trick wish and then you dump the whole wish-giving thing before I even have a chance?"

"Ah, no. That's what I was saying! I'm stuck with it! And that demon is still chasing me! My life is a living hell!"

"Whew! I can breath again! Does that mean you can still grant wishes? I'm glad of that!"

"All I wanted to do was to find Akane! Soon the goddess will succeed and I will never have another chance to help Akane! I have been trying to find the dojo, but everywhere I go is a jungle!"

"That's because you are wandering around in the park, knucklehead. Now, about those wishes..."

"I have to find Akane! Nothing else is important! I want to do some good for someone who deserves it!"

"Present company excepted?" Nabiki's expression darkened.

"I can't control it! I told you! I have no say, whatever, about it!"

"Well, you'd better work on it, and no tricks! Give me a wish I can hold in my hand! After all," Nabiki struck a kawaii pose. "I am a material girl."

"Now I see it!" Ryoga recoiled from her, "You have not received a wish because you were more than not deserving! I have been pursued by more than one demon! Nabiki Tendo, you are evil!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say I was evil," Nabiki tut-tutted him. Maybe a tad selfish - after all, a girl has to look out for herself."

"You would wish for material things while everyone else has to do without!"

"And that would be bad because...? Help me out here. This is an alien concept we're dealing with."

When she received no response other than an angry glare, Nabiki added, "If you don't come through, I'll tell Akane how infatuated you are with her."

Ryoga nodded, puzzled. "You would shame me, but I can survive! I have been trying for ages to tell her!"

"And, then, I'll tell her how your infatuation has made you mad with desire."

"I...think I could live through that. She must know, sooner or later! If you will tell her, then, we can be together!"

"Lastly, I will tell her how, in your pathetic madness, you seduced me because you could not have her."

"And then she will...what did you say?"

"And you took me to this deserted park and devastated my delicate body with your..."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? How DARE you imply that I could abandon my true love?" Ryoga froze in position as Nabiki held up a hand. He followed the direction of her finger as she pointed toward his clenched fist.

"Arrgghh!" he cried. "All my training has been undone! I have raised my hand to a defenseless woman! (Of course, it was only Nabiki Tendo, but..."

"Hey!" barked Nabiki.

"...but it shows the depths to which I can sink.) To think that I could consider harming any female! I have become abominable!"

"I'll tell you what your problem is, Hibiki. You obsess too much over details. By the way, you'd better calm down before you blow a gasket."

"I don't care! I cannot do anything that I want to do! I have nothing, I can do nothing, I am worth nothing..."

"Hey, calm down, Ryoga! You're starting to glow..."

"SHISHIHOKODAN!"

"Oh, frack..."

"Nothing happened! Even my most powerful chi blast has been reduced to nothing!"

"I wouldn't say nothing happened," Nabiki said, as she caught the slip of plastic whirring down in the wind. She read the flowing characters on it which said, "Bank of Paradise Credit Card. Good for Three Wishes for each possessor. May be shared." She admired the flourishes and pictures of birds and flowers outlining the card and heard the soft music. Her eyebrows ascended and she whistled.

Finally, she held the card aloft and declared, "I wish for a billion yen!"

Nothing happened.

"Why doesn't it work?" Nabiki shook the card as if she could somehow stir the recalcitrant plastic into cooperation. Blinking images on the underside of the card caught her eye, and she read,

"Can only be used by person(s) who are either  
a) of superior moral character,  
b) innocent as a child, or  
c) nutty as a fruitcake. Teamwork is optional."

"I KNEW there had to be a catch!" Nabiki fumed, "Guess I'll have to bring in someone else. Fortunately, around here there should be no trouble fulfilling the third clause."

Ryoga was too busy looking in all directions to answer.

A noise echoed and Nabiki looked up and down the street, as Ryoga edged toward a large sign advertising a local hotel. Shooing Ryoga behind the sign, she reassured him, "Don't worry, I'll ward her off. Of course, I'll have to charge double rate for non-disclosure."

Folding the bills and securing them within her bookbag she waited, the picture of innocence, admiring the dew-covered flowers along the path. Basho came running up, holding his hassock high to clear his legs. Nabiki raised one eyebrow and waited for him to stop huffing.

"I am looking for Mr. Hibiki!" cried Basho. "I must prevent a horrible catastrophe!"

"Really?" Nabiki posed nonchalantly, tapping her chin, "Like, say, raining wish certificates?"

Basho gobbled in horror. "Don't even joke about that!" he cried.

"Believe me, I would never joke about that." Nabiki weighed the chances of getting another wish out of Ryoga against the merit of exacting revenge. The balance tipped when she remembered the ignominy of having to hug an obnoxious six-year old. "So, tell me," she said. "How badly do you want Hibiki?" The gasp of dismay from behind the sign was music to her ears.

"Very badly!" Basho stated.

"Exactly how badly?"

Basho stared at the upraised palm until comprehension dawned. As he withdrew bills from his pouch he complained, "What kind of a mercenary are you?"

"The vindictive kind. I never forget a slight. Or a misplaced wish," Nabiki decided that it was not necessary to mention the misplaced wish certificate she had concealed in her purse - after all, the monk had not said anything about it. "Ask him," she added as Ryoga stalked angrily from behind the sign. "I think I'm going to owe him a refund, darn it."

The monk and the martial artist faced each other. Basho waved a wand, chanted a few lines, and Ryoga untensed so completely he almost fell down.

"He was serious, all right! Looks like I got my ticket just in time," Nabiki sighed. "You two might as well come in for breakfast. I was just about to invite Ryoga in, anyway,"

She turned the corner and entered the gate to the dojo, holding tightly to the wish certificate and thinking, Now, where can I hide this so Ranma won't find it? I'll have to discuss the profit aspect with him before I make any decisions.

"That's odd," Basho tilted his head as if listening to some distant sound. "I was certain that I cured him entirely, and yet I still feel some magic around. What could it be?"

"Ah...maybe it's the wind," Nabiki shoved the slip of glittering plastic farther out of Basho's sight. This called for quick thinking - if Basho could demagic Ryoga, he could invalidate the wish card, too.

A commotion attracted her attention: Akane and Ranma arguing before leaving for school. Akane had prepared bentos for both of them and Ranma was balking.

Nabiki fairly purred with satisfaction, "But wait, what light from yonder window of opportunity breaks? Whoa. Too much like Kuno." She shook her head and hurried over to her sister, saying, "Hi, Akane! Morning, Saotome! Hey, Sis, your bento box is about to fall out of your backpack. Here, I'll adjust it."

It was a nearly flawless plan. Akane would not notice the slim card slipped into her bento box and Ranma would stick his head into a live volcano before he went near Akane's food. There would be plenty of time to retrieve the card before lunch.

"What's with Ryoga?" Ranma asked, "He taking to camping in the kitchen?"

"Poor Ryoga," mused Akane. "He looks so worn out! Is he alright?"

"He's fine," Nabiki assured them. "Just too tired to make it back to the dojo." She waved them off and waited until they were out of sight.

Now, all she had to do was convince the mad monk that Ryoga had not left a legacy. Turning to Basho, she said, "So. You really did it." She tapped the recumbent Ryoga, who rolled over and smiled in his sleep. "You took away his ability to grant wishes?"

"Oh, absolutely," beamed Basho, only then noticing her dispirited air. "Aren't you happy?"

"'Oh, absolutely,'" mimicked Nabiki in a convincingly aggrieved tone. "I didn't get my wish, you idiot! And, now I'll never get one! How could you do this to me?"

"Oh, I simply reversed a little heavenly script...Oops! I wasn't supposed to use that. Anyway. It all came out for the best, didn't it?" Basho looked up to see apparent deep sorrow in Nabiki's gaze, and for a moment the sight of her moping away toward school brought a troubled cloud to his brow.

The next moment, he brightened. "Of course! Heavenly script! That's how I can help Hiroshi!"

End: Chapter Fourteen


	15. As Your Last Chance Slips Away

Disclaimer: No gerbils have been harmed in the writing of this fanfic, especially since they have developed their own school of martial arts: gerbil-fu. 

ASHES - A Cinderella Story

Chapter Fifteen - As Your Last Chance Slips Away

The pattern's all, I'm telling you  
Doesn't matter if you're blue  
Your heart sashays in between  
We'll cut a rug with old Fifteen.

I CAN'T GET NEXT TO YOU:

In a tiny garden in Nerima, which was a tiny part of Tokyo, which was a tiny part of Japan, which was a tiny part of the Earth, which was a tiny part of the Solar System, which was a tiny part of...you get the picture...a tiny portal appeared. Out of the portal struggled a very peeved demoness.

"I can't believe how much trouble it was to get back to this place! You'd think those jokers in their pearl palaces upstairs had the place guarded! I swear I wasn't this weak as a youngster!"

Mara dumped an armload of her beloved gimmicks onto the garden path and selected a Sniffer from the mound. She switched it on and remarked with satisfaction, "Ah! There he is, broadcasting loud and clear, very excited. If he keeps that up, I'll find him again, easily!"

She was not so successful with another device, a compact formation of cloud molecules which skittered away from her when she tried to board it. "Curse my youthful condition!" she railed. "I no longer have the concentrated will to control this blasted thing!"

An inventory of her remaining tools improved her outlook. "This holding tank is for my prize," she crooned, cuddling a blank wad of dark stone. "Power-ups, in case of emergencies; snoops, to watch out for those meddling goddesses; and best of all, my secret weapon!" She lifted a radio permanently tuned to a 24-hour polka station.

"Am I ready! Of course I'm ready!"

Her demonic laugh was interrupted by the sniffer.

"Eh? He's disappeared again! Wait! This time he's left a single spark of activity, which I can trace!"

The trace signature on the screen caught her eye and she looked at it sharply. "Odd," she said. "That spark reminds me of something I seen before...I can't believe it! He's created a magic wand! What kind of a pig IS this?"

YOUNG GIRL (Get Out of My Mind):

At the school ground, Nabiki was bargaining with Hiroshi and Daisuke when they heard music blaring from a loudspeaker. A group of students charged by, wearing sideburns, scarves and sequined uniforms. Across the school ground rolled a clangorous refrain from the speakers:

"You've asked me what I want to do, you've wondered from the start..."

"Now, that's new," mused Nabiki.

"Ahh, that's heavenly music!" exulted Daisuke. Nabiki merely raised an eyebrow at him, indicating her opinion of his taste.

"Yeah, the competition," growled Hiroshi, too immersed in his own woes to offer more, as the loudspeaker began again.

"I'll tell you what I know is true, I have to win your heart!"

"Who are those students?" Nabiki wondered.

"Members of the Furinkan Rock'n Roll Club," Daisuke supplied. "They gather at break times to admire rock and roll songs."

"Oh, I want to be a rock star! That's all I've got to say..."

Hiroshi jerked about, wiping his sleeves and shirt front in near panic. Seeing Nabiki and Daisuke staring at him, he stopped and gave them a rueful grin.

"What's gotten into you?" Daisuke asked. "They're just playing Rock Cliff's new song! I have it on tape here, if you want to listen. It's the one he put out trying regain his lead from you and Primrose."

"Your lead is safe." Nabiki shuddered.

"Sorry," Hiroshi said, straightening his belt and regaining his composure. "That what I used to say whenever I wanted to turn into Cinderella, 'I want to be a rock star.'"

Daisuke chewed his lip and said, "You're taking a chance, telling me that, old pal. Aren't you afraid I'll use it on you?"

"Doesn't work anymore," Hiroshi said glumly. "Thanks to Basho."

"Cause if I was a rock star, we could Rock and Roll, all day!"

Nabiki eyed him as the loudspeaker sputtered into silence. She said, "So, this Basho is solving your problems, too? What do you use to turn into Cinderella, now?"

"I'm not saying," Hiroshi said, while turning a pale magenta.

"Man! Who's the little cutie?" Daisuke pointed over Nabiki's shoulder.

A chill fled down Nabiki's spine when she saw a young blond girl picking her way across the school-yard, using an enigmatic, dead-black device to plot her course. It was leading the girl directly to them.

"I'm not sure," Nabiki said, stirring uneasily. "She looks familiar, yet..."

Hiroshi was also watching the girl and he, too, had seen something about her to make him uneasy. He slapped Daisuke on the back and joshed, "She's too young for you, Dummy!"

"Hey, you gotta plan ahead! She's going to remember the guys who make a good impression on her. Let me tell you,in a few years that is going to be one very hot chick!"

Recognition had flared in Nabiki's eyes and she began to breath faster, an ancient reaction developed by humans to deal with danger - fight or flight.

"Underclassman, you have no idea how hot," she said.

The girl kept coming, head down, until she bumped into Nabiki. Jumping back, she shouted angrily, "It's you! Curse you and your sea-water, anyway!"

"This ought to be good," Nabiki drawled. "Haven't I seen you before, say, in a black cloud? What's your name?"

"My name is Mara, and you've interfered for the last time! Now, I'll..." the underaged demoness stopped to stare at the lump of metal in her hand, which had begun whistling. She blinked and took a good look at Nabiki.

"You!...you've had the wand!" she shrieked. She dropped the lump of metal to the grass and reached toward Nabiki. "Give it to me! That thing is mine, I tell you! Mine, mine, mine! I have to have it! It's the only thing that'll shorten my durance vile!"

"'Durance Vile'?" asked Daisuke. "Is that a new group?"

"It means...," Mara blinked at him. "Say, you look kinda cute."

Daisuke, taken aback, looked to Hiroshi for support. "I look cute?" he asked.

"No comment," Hiroshi said, backing warily away.

"But I don't have time for that!" Mara dismissed Daisuke and focussed her attention on Nabiki. "Where is it? Where IS it?"

Nabiki folded her arms and replied stonily, "I certainly don't have anything magical."

"That wand is mine! I deserve it for what he did to me! This is all his fault! It is because of him I am so limited, so confined, so...so..."

"So immature?" Nabiki suggested.

"Yes, I am so y...WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Mara bounced up and down in anger. "I want it! Why don't you have it?"

"Do I really look cute?" Daisuke called.

Mara stopped her tirade long enough to wrinkle her pert nose at him and snort, "Well, sort of. Average cute."

"Ouch," said Hiroshi.

Mara shrugged and turned away. Suddenly, she pointed and shouted, "Now, there is CUTE!"

"Uh-oh," Nabiki said. While Mara's attention was elsewhere, she scooped up the Sniffer, wound up and threw it as hard as she could, like a shot put. The dead-black device arced over onto the concrete sidewalk where it bounced, shattered into smaller lumps and melted into the ground.

Akane brushed past Mara, calling back over her shoulder, "Fine! Just see if I care!"

"Problems?" Daisuke asked Ranma, who was following.

"stupid tobboy coog," whispered Ranma in a tiny voice.

Akane raised her own voice to a yell, "I even followed the recipe! You see how much good it did? You still won't eat anything I make!"

"I can't believe it," gasped Daisuke. "Ranma, sampling the goods?"

Ranma replied heatedly, although in a very small voice, "id said coog in aluminum! not alum!"

"Oooo! Muscles! You're cute!" Ranma's outburst was choked off by a squealing young girl who was clinging to his neck. He froze in panic as Akane drew near.

"Isn't he a little old for you?" Akane frostily demanded.

"You should be back in your middle school, Honey," Ukyo said. She had been on her way to class when she stopped to lend a hand.

With Akane's help, Ukyo pulled Mara gently loose from Ranma and deposited her a safe distance away. They guided Ranma toward a drinking fountain where they could try to wash off the alum pucker without triggering his curse.

Nabiki dashed away, searching for the place where Akane had dragooned Ranma into tasting her cooking. Daisuke and Hiroshi continued on toward their first classes, leaving a blond waif standing lonesome and unfulfilled in the middle of the school grounds.

"I'll get you both for this!" shrilled Mara. "You haven't heard the end of me! I'll..." She sputtered to silence as she spotted a far-off wandering samurai sauntering along the path, his trusty kendo blade ready should a heroic rescue become necessary. The threat in her voice evaporated into a thrilled, "...Ooooooo! Tall! Dark! Handsome!"

"It is beneath a samurai's dignity to consort with juveniles," spake Tatewaki Kuno as he beheld her adolescent face shining with puppy love. "Still, I am touched by your devotion. For your memoirs, I shall deign to part with this monogrammed kerchief. You may crush it against your scant bosom, cherishing it until that far day when your winsome gawkiness might somehow blossom into a radiant beauty!"

Mara melted, sighing, "Oh, Studly Sir! I shall adore this cloth as if it were a lump of flesh ripped from your heart!"

"Er...right," Kuno blinked. He recovered to murmur, "Truly, t'is but a gesture of noblese oblige." As he paced away, he kept a wary eye on her lest she follow, but she was too smitten to move. Mara only stared after him with hearts in her eyes. Eventually, she turned to look for her Sniffer, but it could not be found.

The travelling samurai wandered on until he happened upon a deserted picnic site. "Ah!" he exclaimed, "A sublime feast and, by the duck painted on the side of the bento, prepared by the beauteous Akane! Surely she has been practicing her culinary arts in anticipation of the day she can present me with her greatest achievements!

"Dare I take a peremptory taste, with the chance that I might lessen the wondrous surprise she has planned for me?" The noble samurai debated, then decided, "Yes, I should prepare my palate for the future ecstacy which shall be mine!"

"id is eggslent," he shortly continued, in a whisper. "although pr'haps in need of a smidgeon of seasoning. (coff) but hold? what is this? a tender note, a blushing poem which she were too shy to deliver personally? (hackhack)"

Holding up the plastic wafer and observing its fanciful designs, he continued, "but no! 'tis merely a child's playing card, a commercial buffoonery to gull wayward youths into squandering their coin! rubbish! my darling akane would not be attracted by such frivolity! (wheeze) this came from that wretch saotome, who was hovering about my princess!"

And, so saying, he flung the card to the winds.

Caught by a thermal, tossed by the breeze, the colorful rectangle fluttered along, leaving in its wake an echo of birdsong and bellchime, until it settled at last onto the branches of a tree.

A hand reached up to lift it from the palm branches, and a voice spoke, "Wot's dis? I do believe my old peepers gotta be deceivin' me if dis ain't a gen-you-wine tradin' card fo de Magical Slipper game! Why, dis t'ing is valuable! It be de perfect prize fo de talent contest dat I'm about to announce!"

HIROSHI (Do you Believe in Magic?):

Daisuke poked me in the ribs and said, "Hey, Hiroshi! How's your girl friend?"

"I saw her again, last night, but it was only a dream. We were at the airport and she kept crying and saying goodbye."

"Dream lover, eh? Woowoo!"

"It's not like that! I lo...like her, that's all!"

"All right, underclassmen! Be quiet and pay attention!" Nabiki said from behind us.

"What for? Old Hawaiian Breath just has another scheme to embarrass Ranma," I said, looking about the gym floor. The gym was in 'auditorium' mode with seats pulled out and lined up in front of the stage. Students were sitting in those seats and, supposedly, paying attention.

I looked again. They were staring at the stage. In shock. I glanced back over my shoulder at Nabiki.

"A talent contest? To see who gets to sing the new school song?" Nabiki asked as if unsure what she had heard.

"That's what the principal said," Daisuke replied.

She shuddered. "I've heard his song. Believe me, you don't want to be so lucky."

"Bad?"

"Awful. 'I worship each grain of sand upon which you stand. My precious school, how wonderful your buildings shine with the unrepressed adoration of us, your students, as we project our faithful hearts toward your noble, sun-struck goal, the pinnacle of our hearts yearning.'"

"Man!" Daisuke blinked.

"Yup." She nodded.

"You said it. Bad song."

"You don't know the half of it. That was only the first line."

"Aloha, Kiekes and Wahines! We gonna do a good job on de wunnerful new school song! We gonna have us a bodashus contest, and it be fo' de wahines, only!" There was a general round of applause from the male students. "And da wahine wot sings de greates' gets de gran' prize!"

"And what is that?" Ranma called from nearby.

"Dis 'yere bona fido 'Magical Slipper' game playing card! It say it good for t'ree wishes!"

"That's mine! Gimmegimmegimme!" cried the young girl named Mara.

Principal Kuno looked down toward the source of the outburst and said, "Well, lookie here who we got! You be de kieke, and I be the big kahuna, here! Dis here be a prize fo' de talent contest. De student wat win the contest gets dis playin' card, but you ain't no student!"

"That is no ordinary game card, you fool! It's magic, and it's MINE!" Mara made a gesture and pointed toward the stage, as if throwing something. There was a tiny puff and a whiff of sulfur. "Blast it!" she growled to herself, "My powers are weakened!"

"Who's the chick?" inquired an observing student.

"Somebody's little sister. Sure has a temper," replied another student.

"Yeah, but she's cute!"

"Every girl's cute to you, Loser-kun!"

"Dis little gal say de card be magic!" announced Kuno. "How we find out it if dis be true?"

"I'll prove it!" cried Mara, jumping up and down. "I'll show you! I know just the thing to wish for!"

"A magic card?" Akane wondered out loud.

"It's gotta be a phoney," said Ranma.

"But still - imagine what you could do if it were real! You could get rid of your curse!"

"First, look who has it," Ranma pointed out. "Anything that chump has his hands on is rigged. Second, nothing says it's really magic."

"Dat right!" Principal Kuno called and again asked, "How we gonna prove dis card be magic?"

"Make a wish, you idiot! That'll prove it!" cried Mara, bouncing up and down in the aisle.

"Wot I wish for?" mused the principal, "I t'ink I wish dat..."

"No!" cried the audience, frantically.

"Wot?"

The audience roared, "No! Don't wish for that!"

"But - why can't the big kahuna get to wish for wot he want?"

"It makes it too easy, ya big lunkhead!" shouted Ranma. "Admit it. Ya wanta chop off everybody's hair. But, if everyone gave in without a fight, where would be the challenge?"

"Hmmm. Dat's so," admitted the principal, fingering the card. "But first, we gonna prove dis card be magic or not! I wish we was on da beach!"

Immediately the floor became white sand with waves curling upon the shore. Palm trees waved gently in the breeze. Ukelele music played softly over tables groaning with platters of fresh fruit, nuts, poi and roast fish.

"What th -" Ranma stood, transfixed. "We're actually on a beach! Could he be telling the truth?"

Nabiki, tasting the lemonade from a cocoanut cup, said, "What's the matter, Akane? You're practically foaming at the mouth."

"What's the matter? He has a real magic card! He could do anything! He could stop crime or end poverty! Why didn't he even do something useful, like repairing the school buildings? Oh, no, not our principal! He has to have a luau!"

"The only thing I see wrong with the arrangement is, he has it and I don't," Nabiki replied with furrowed brow. She took a sip of the lemonade and made a face. "He fulfils the requirements, too."

"If it's really magic, I can be cured!" Ranma said. The wheels were going around in his head, in typical Ranma fashion, doing martial arts spins and whirls, as he speculated aloud, "If I could get that card, I could free myself of the curse!"

"Oh, it's real enough, Ranma," Nabiki grumbled. "I know that for a fact. What I don't understand is how he found it."

"You knew about it?" Ranma turned on her. "You had a way to cure me and you didn't tell me? How'd you get it?"

"Hey, easy!" Nabiki fended him off, "It's not that simple! To tell you about it, I would have had to reveal who gave it to me. What kind of a girl do you think I am?"

"A money grabber!" Ranma retorted instantly.

"Well, I value my sources." Nabiki held out a hand. "Fifty thousand yen, please."

Ranma raged, even as he went through his pockets, "Whaddya mean? Why should I pay you fifty thousand yen?"

"For the name of the person who gave me the wish card, of course."

"You know I don't have that much!"

"Oh. Well. Guess you'll never know, then. Wouldn't do much good, anyway. He's no longer in the business."

It was my turn to accost her. "Is this true?" I demanded, shoving aside the empty palm she displayed. "What do you mean, 'no longer in the business?'"

"Hey, Hiroshi!" Ranma called, "Don't worry about it! This ain't yer concern. Nice to see ya show some spine, though."

"Do you mind, Ranma?" Nabiki turned a disdainful eye toward him. "This is a private conversation!" To me, she said, "Standard rates?"

I turned my pockets inside out, thinking fast. The plan I had counted on, such as it was, had been to find a way to free Kidori using Ryoga's aid. After that, I expected to be able to have my 'wish' revoked.

However, If Ryoga was no longer able to grant wishes, then Kidori might be forever lost to the ghost in the mask, I might be stuck as Cinderella, and I would lose all chance of having a girlfriend. I was selfish enough to wonder which disaster loomed largest in my mind. "I'm broke!" I said, at last remembering our contract, "But I am still your client!"

"Seeing as how this is pertinent to our contract...Rats. There went my profit. I was hoping you'd forget that," she said. "Okay, here's the skinny. Basho switched him off."

"Basho." My heart was in quicksand. Sinking. If Basho had actually cured' Ryoga of the ability to grant wishes, then there was no way I could get free of my curse. "That's it," I said as I slumped to the ground. "I'm doomed. I can't save Kidori. I'm stuck as a transvestite!"

"We gonna have a luau later!" called Principal Kuno. "I wish us back to Furinkan!" The walls of the gymnasium thumped into being, leaving after-images of sparkling waves and clouds in the dim flourescent light.

"Is that thunder I hear?" asked a student. "Where's Little Kuno?"

HIROSHI (Kind of a Drag):

Nabiki placed a hand in front of my face to stop me, forcing me to realize that I had been going in circles - first toward the boy's lockers, then the girl's lockers, then back toward the stage.

"Do you have a problem?" she asked, "You're making me dizzy."

"I have to turn into Cinderella!" I said.

"Thank you for that staggering revelation," Nabiki replied. "Why does this make you spin around?"

"I can't simply walk into the girl's locker room! I can go to the boy's locker room, but I can't be there after I change! I can't change out in the open because I only know one phrase that works and it...well, my costume is indecent."

Her grin was wide. "You mean, you appear in your underwear?"

"I thought you weren't paying attention!"

"No prob. Ten thousand yen, since this is not covered," she said, holding out a girl's gym suit and pointing toward a nearby shelter. "You can owe me."

"I can do this," I told myself, slipping behind the curtain at the end of the stage. "After all, nothing is gained without sacrifice. If I can get the wish card, Kidori can be saved!"

I slipped behind the curtain and said the necessary words, 'legal briefs'. The curtain billowed out with a gust of air. This was the first time I had actually changed clothes at less than supersonic speeds while transformed. When I emerged, I wore a blue girl's gym outfit and a blazing scarlet face because I had made the mistake of looking down at the wrong time.

At least the curtain didn't disappear when I poofed.

As Cinderella, my awareness increased tenfold. I saw someone familiar entering the gym. It was Mom and Pops, trailed by Hainoko, heading straight for the stage. I was trapped. I hurried to Nabiki and blurted, "I have to slip away! Do something to attract their attention until I can reach an exit!"

"Moi? And why should I do that?"

"I'm trying to convince them I am an ordinary girl! They think that I'm haunting myself!"

"Given the circumstances," mused Nabiki, "that almost makes sense."

"Help me, willya?" I snapped. "Quit stalling!"

"I reiterate - why should I do that?"

I sighed. "More money?"

"That might lend some inspiration to my creativity."

"Okay! I'll owe you another ten thousand yen! Go distract them!"

"My brain is working already," she said, with a smile that set off a warning claxon in the back of my mind. "I have the perfect wardoff."

I called her back. "I just got a very bad feeling," I said. "What were you going to tell him?"

"Oh, only that you are ovulating right now and didn't want to be disturbed." Nabiki stopped in thoughtful silence and added, "That's a very interesting shade of deep red. I don't think I've ever seen anyone's face turn that color."

"You're crazy! Never mind! I'll escape without your help!"

"Does that mean you won't pay me my ten thou?"

"When hell freezes over!" I felt a finger prodding my shoulder and turned to find Pops staring at me. He looked at his fingertip and pushed my shoulder again.

"Hey, this gal's real!" Pops said.

"Don't prod her, Dear," Mom said.

"She ain't a ghost! We were wrong all along! You realize what this means?"

"Yes, Dear."

"It means my boy's a real stud! Lookit that chick! Ain't she a beaut?"

"She is lovely, Father. What is your name, child?"

"Cinderella." I simpered and struck a kawaii pose, trying to be sweet, charming and inoffensive. I even giggled. There is no bottom when you set out to deceive the ones you love.

HIROSHI (Too Late to Turn Back Now, Mama Told Me Not to Come):

I raised my voice to announce, "I am entering the contest!" Suddenly I was noticed and eager students pushed me onto the stage.

"Wait!" cried Ranma, "I still don't trust th'old bastard! I ain't decided, yet!" Akane unceremoniously poured a glass of cold water over him and Ranma-chan grumbled, "I guess I decided."

"Den come on up!" Principal Kuno called.

"Just a minute!"

"Who dat say, 'just a minit'?" called the principal.

Akane struggled through the crowd surrounding the stage. "I'm entering, too!" she cried.

"Why are you doing this?" Ranma-chan gruffed as Akane stood between us.

Akane gave him a sweet smile. "Because I've heard you sing."

"I don't sound that bad!"

"No, you sound very good...as long as you have someone to back you up."

"Hmmph! I suppose you think you can do better?" Ranma-chan crossed her arms and looked away, "Besides, y'ain't got the chest for it."

"I do too!" Akane glared, then restrained herself. "This is important, Ranma! No matter which one of us wins, we'll both make the same wish! And after all...it is singing, and I've had more training in singing than you have."

"Don't mean you'll win! I'm gonna be goin' all out!"

"Good! Maybe this time you'll take me seriously!"

"Kanes! Wahines! Dis does my old heart good..." The principal's announcement broke into their rapport.

"He has a heart?" Ranma-chan muttered under her breath.

"...cause I got anuddah prize fo' the winnah! An' dats the reason de contest is fo' de wahines, only!"

A curtain slid aside. Basking in the glare of the spotlight was the tall, handsome scion of a long list of glorious ancestors, the epitome of perfection in kendo skills, resplendant in his nobility.

"I refuse to be slopped off like a mere token in a bagetelle!" snarled Takewaki.

"An' de winnah gets to date my bodashus son!"

"Never!" cried Takewaki, "Again, I refuse! I will not be...my fair Akane? My precious Pig-tailed girl? The mysterious but alluring Blue Venus?"

"Argggh!" cried three female voices as one.

"My Akane!" cried Tatewaki. As he rushed to grab her, Akane responded with a dropkick. To our surprise, Kuno landed on his feet, still on the stage.

Tatewaki turned his attention to the next selection on his menu. "Pig-tailed Girl!"

Ranma-chan leaped to meet him, feet-first. Tatewaki's backward somersault dropped him upright and ready to lavish his noble affection upon his third choice.

"How'd he do that?" Ranma wondered.

"With my protective auto-stabilization guard!" announced the youthful blond girl we had seen earlier. She swung onto the stage beside Kuno and indicated a device attached to Tatewaki's belt. "No one shall harm a hair on my..."

She stopped to stare at me. She screeched, "I've seen you before! You're responsible for my condition! You will pay for that!"

"Mara?" I asked, "Do I know you?" I looked closer and felt my warning senses going ballistic. Oh, yes. Add a gray mop of hair, a sagging monstrosity of a face, and a couple of hundred years, and you had her. A demoness. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled in alarm.

Tatewaki had his own agenda. He shrugged her off and came toward me, calling, "My Mystery Girl!"

"Harlot!" shrilled the demoness as she tried to hold him back, "How dare you trifle with the affections of my darling Tatewaki-chan? I shall never forgive you!"

"Darling..." Ranma-chan halted, stunned.

"...Tatewaki-chan?" Akane finished her exclamation.

"I thought she had the hots for Saotome," Nabiki added.

"My adorable Blue Venus! Know this, that I, Tatewaki Kuno, the peril of Furinkan High Kendo and also of an azure disposition, the Blue Thunder, adore thee. I love you, my mysterious darling!"

"Try and dodge this spell, you sweetheart stealing bimbo!" the demoness shouted. She threw something at me which looked like smoke and smelled like burnt insulation.

"Ack!" Now I knew what it was like to be zapped by Miss Hinako. My arms were leaden. I could hardly stand. I was in trouble. There was no way I could enter the competition in my weakened state.

As I drooped there, a strange, dumpy little lady pushed past me onto the stage. "I warned you!" She yelled at Nabiki, and began throwing white rectangles out over the audience. "These were 'borrowed' from your purse, last night, while you were feeding your face! Now, you'll both pay!" The dumpy woman laughed as she pointed at me.

Yup. I was in trouble, big time. As puny as she was, she could whip me with one finger. But, surely she didn't expect me to fight her!

She didn't. My problems doubled as two mounds of lard and muscle bounded onto the stage and uttered their war cry.

"Aha! And now we have you!"

"I'm toast," I whimpered.

It was a good thing that my superbly conditioned body could absorb an enormous amount of pain, because my superbly conditioned body was absorbing an enormous amount of pain.

The sumo brothers slung me from one end of the stage to the other. They swatted me back and forth like a badminton shuttlecock. They shot hoops with me. Then they flipped me disdainfully off to the side, gave each other high-fives, and swaggered off the stage in triumph.

I wound up lying on my back, my head hanging over the edge of the stage, wondering why no one was watching the massacre.

They were all looking at photographs, while Nabiki was yowling under her breath about 'revenge'.

Daisuke pounced on one photo and exclaimed, "There's a cute redhead - I thought so! Ranma-chan! What a figure! She looks great!"

Another student cried, "Shampoo, by the beach! What a doll, VavaVoom!"

Third student: "Do people actually say 'Vavavoom' any more?"

Yet another: "Of course not, you idiot! This is hyperbole!"

Third student, looking around: "But, I don't see her anywhere in the gym!"

Another student: "Even Nabiki looks good! And Akane-chan, sunbathing - hubbahubba!"

Yet another: "See? I rest my case."

Daisuke: "Who's the blonde? Nice bod, the face is hidden, but that's about all. Man, she's underdressed!"

Another student: "That's the skimpiest bikini I've EVER seen! She's nearly naked!"

I sneezed, feeling a chill which did not come from air conditioning.

"Yo!" came an upside down voice, and an upside-down Ranma-chan leaned up at me. "Did'ya want me to lend a hand?"

"Naw," I wheezed. "I had everything under control."

"Why didn'cha just blast'em?"

"Too weak. I got zapped by a spell."

"Oh. Funny, y'got chi rollin' offa ya. You could'a 'matabashiki-ed' them! All ya needed was the confidence."

I groaned and tried to lift my hand. My fist fell to the stage floor with a thump. "I'm a little low on that, right now," I said.

An upside down Basho appeared and glowered happily at me. "Master Hiroshi!" he exclaimed, "I have succeeded! You need never have to worry about inadvertent changeover again!"

"I don't have to - what?"

"Watch!"

-poof-

I lost no time in getting upright and checking myself out. I was male, in a boy's uniform underneath the gym shorts which I hastily removed. Full strength, which was not much, but it was all mine.

"What have you done?" I wailed.

"Oh, there is no need to thank me," Basho said as he preened himself. "I merely used a proscribed method to protect you from loose words, but it was for a good cause!"

"You've got to change me back! I have to save Kidori!"

He gave me a scandalized look. "But that's impossible!" he said, "I never learned that portion. Besides, why would you want something that is obviously not good?"

"Hiroshi-chan!"

"Mom?"

"Darling, what is this? I never realized that you were interested in this kind of a girl!" Mom was holding up one of the pictures of me in a bikini.

"Heh. What kind of a girl, Mom?"

"Why, a career girl, Hiroshi-chan! This changes everything! Of course you have my permission to date her!"

"You'll never see her again," I said, with such a stricken look on my face that Hainoko guessed the awful truth. "Basho took her away," I elaborated.

"That girl was Hiroshi," said Hainoko. I didn't object. No point in hiding the truth, now that it was all over.

"Why, dear!" Mom said to her, "I didn't realize you wanted to go into acting! You have such an imagination! But you must emphasize the right word when you want to make the audience believe a line like that. You should say, 'That girl WAS Hiroshi.' See?"

"But it's true!" Hainoko said, looking to me for support. I nodded at her, feeling miserable. "Hiroshi changed into her! It was a wish!"

Mom hugged her. "My dear Hainoko! You'll become an actress yet!"

"I don't wanna be an actress," Hainoko grumbled as she struggled to get free. "I want to be an accountant."

HIROSHI (Gimme That Ol' Time Rockn'Roll):

On the stage, life went on. Principal Kuno was saying, "And de theme o' de contest be 'South Sea Serenade'!"

"We are the Furinkan Rock and Roll Club!" A small but strident group of students pushed forward to announce, "We demand equal time!"

The spokesperson was dressed in a sequined shirt, tight pants, and a scarf. He struck a pose with an exaggerated hip projection and pointed at the ceiling as he said, "Too long has our glorious artform been ignored! It is time for beautiful music to flood once more upon the land! The theme of the show should be Rockn'roll, and we believe that's true!"

"Hokay, den! De theme of the show be Rockn'Roll! Along wid a Hawaiian Luau, wid the girls in grass skirts! It gonna be a martial arts rock'nroll luau!"

"All RIGHT!" crowed Ranma-chan. "Martial arts! I'm sure to win, now!"

"But that's absurd!" ranted the purist spokes-Elvis, "You can't mix ukeleles with steel guitars! It simply isn't done!"

"Er...there was Blue Hawaii," mentioned one of the lesser Elvi.

"The King never wore a grass skirt!" frothed the leader, "It's an abomination of the beauty and purity of our art!"

"Is he talking about Rock and Roll?" someone else asked.

"Yes," cried the head of the Elvi. "I mean the sacred R&R! Not the sweaty, physically brutal act of mayhem these martial artists perform!"

The first student scratched his head. "There's a difference?"

The head Elvis screamed, "You will not find another girl who would stoop to defile our glorious artform! No one will agree!"

A purple-haired beauty puffed into the auditorium, dropped her bike at the door and collapsed into a seat. She roused enough to shout, "Shampoo agree! Shampoo beat anyone, anytime! Will help Airen, no matter what!" Aside, she asked, "What Shampoo just agree to do?" There was a hushed murmur as Rock and Roll was explained, then she continued in a smaller voice, "Oh. That anything like log fighting?"

"Count me in, too, Sugar!" called Ukyo.

"Hokay! I got one more wish comin'!" Principal Kuno cried.

"He'll ruin everything!" cried Mara. "I'll have to throw everything I can into this spell!" She reached deep within her teenaged being to find the rigid discipline to project a final link to the card, as the principal spoke one more time.

"An' now, my kiekes and kanes - th' moment we bin waitin' for! Da Big Kahuna say, 'I wish we have some bodashus music fo' de big contest!' Th' contest..." Principal Kuno stopped, cleared his throat, and tried again, "...gonna be danced and pranced by de...de... de Primrose Path! Come on down!"

Mara closed her eyes and shuddered. "So close!" she whispered.

The center of the stage was obscured by a thick, soft explosion of white smoke. Out of the clouds came the wail of a tortured guitar, the glissando shimmer of an inspired synthesizer and the staccato tromp of snare and kettle drums.

Through the billows, Guapo looked out over the audience. She called, "Hey, man. Like, where are we?"

"Furinkan High," Jupooku replied, not unsettled at all.

"Bitchin'!" decided Guapo. She ran the rims on her drums and the group swung into a rousing rendition of 'Peppermint Twist'.

Mara stared at her bouncing feet in horror. "Not again!" she wailed, "I'm immune to disco, now!"

"This ain't disco!" called Guapo, "It's..."

"...it's Rockn'Roll!" A team of scarved, sideburned, and sequined dancers leaped onstage to finish her statement,

"Arrrgghhhh!" cried Mara as she Twisted across the stage.

"Who appointed her to the entertainment committee?" wondered the first student.

Among the remainder of the students, the reaction was not nearly so laid back. Pandemonium reigned as students pressed toward the stage to enter the contest.

"Dis' card too dangerous to leave lying around," Principal Kuno was heard to say. "I gotta find some place to lock it away, some place REAL safe!"

Jupooku hit a bass chord, the drums thumped, cymbals whispered and then the music stopped.

All conversations ceased and a deathly quiet fell upon the audience, as a lone figure mounted the stage platform and addressed the principal.

"I would enter the contest!"

I stood in numbed shock, weak and useless, unable to help, unable to do anything but choke back a sob and a silent question -

"Kidori?"

End: Chapter Fifteen

Partial list of name-droppings:  
I Can't Get Next to You, sung by The Temptations  
Young Girl, sung by The Union Gap, featuring Gary Puckett  
Do You Believe in Magic, sung by The Lovin' Spoonful  
Kind of a Drag, sung by The Buckinghams  
Too Late to Turn Back Now, by Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose  
Mama Told Me Not to Come, sung by Three Dog Night


	16. Go All Out Against Your Love

Disclaimer: No gerbils have been harmed in the writing of this fanfic. It's really the other way around - they have become rather nasty little buggers since discovering the mecha department. 

ASHES - A Cinderella Story

Chapter Sixteen - Go All Out Against Your Love

Rock the shuttle to and fro,  
Roll the thunder as you go,  
You swing Bop and I strike Zen,  
Chapter Sixteen's gonna spin.

HIROSHI (Black Magic Woman):

I felt the awful weight of certainty bearing down, like bags of cement settling on my shoulders. Kidori was here. I should have known, when the Primrose Path showed up, that she would not be far behind.

Naturally, she wanted the wish card, but what did she intend to do with it? She might decide to wish herself free of the influence of the mask - the very thing that I had intended to do for her before I lost my Cinderella powers. She might decide to make me a love slave - I could live with that. As long as she didn't do anything kinky. Heck, come to think of it, I could even live with that.

One thing was certain. I was no longer able to help her, either by going against her and winning the prize or aligning with her to help her get the prize. All I could do was watch, while my fears crushed the breath from my body.

Kidori spoke again, her voice tenuous, unsure. "I want to enter the contest!"

"Dat's too bad!" Principal Kuno called, touching the bridge of his sunglasses and grinning a face-splitting grin. "You ain't no student! De only way you enter is to challenge de winnah! You gotta wait!"

"Miscreant!" cried Mara. "First you won't let me enter, and now you keep her out! What has she done to you? You shall pay for this!"

"Talk to de hand," laughed the principal as he waved and disappeared off the back of the stage. "De ears don't hear! Goo-bye!"

"Darling child!" cried the little dumpy woman who had tossed out Nabiki's photographs. "I shall stand up for you!"

"Gouman-chan!" Nabiki yelled at her, "You haven't heard the last of me!"

"What's that, Dearie?" Gouman-chan mocked. "I don't recall your name!"

"Oh, you'll recall it, soon enough!" Nabiki growled as she turned to me. "Hiroshi, I want you to..." She saw that I was male and she stopped. Disbelief built up in her face until she erupted with, "...What happened to you? I thought you were ready to fight!"

"I got 'cured'," I grumbled, shrugging her hand off my shoulder. "Basho helped me."

"That troublemaking...that's the thanks I get for helping him out! Well, there's still one thing I can do! I know where he's going! Wait here!" Nabiki headed for the exit even as she spoke.

"Hiroshi!" Mom called into my ear, making me start violently.

I recovered and turned forlornly to her, saying, "Mom, I'm glad to see you, but why are you and Pops here?"

"Hiroshi-chan, I told you last night that your father and I were going to see your teachers...of course, now that I've seen your darling girl-friend..."

"Heh. Yeah, Mom. Hainoko tried to explain that. You see..."

"Of course, we had to come for the parent-teachers meetings. Why, I even saw Mr. Tendo here. You know, Akane's father?"

"Yeah. Right. I'm still trying to explain..."

"I am so sorry your girlfriend dumped you," she went on.

"Look, Mom. It's not like that."

"I know your father and I have raised you to be a respectable boy and you would never do anything shameful," she said with a sigh of deep regret. "But if you'd been a man to her, perhaps she would have never left."

"Ack!" This was bad. I had to tell her the truth. I had to make her understand that I had been Cinderella. If I didn't, she would make up all sorts of impossible scenarios.

"She must have been terribly dedicated to pose in such revealing costumes."

"Urk!" On the other hand, maybe now was not a good time to bare it all.

"Never mind right now, Hiroshi-chan. We'll have plenty of opportunity to discuss this, afterward. What is this about a talent contest? I didn't realize there would be entertainment! Are you going to enter? Er..." It suddenly occurred to her that she had made a grievous error, giving me an excuse to sing. She tried to cover up by stammering, "I...I mean, do you have a favorite contestant?"

"I don't think..." I started to say.

"Ah, well, you do have to move on!" Mom sighed wistfully. She noticed Kidori, standing on stage meekly while Gouman-chan talked to her, and Mom motioned to me. "Hiroshi-chan! What do you think of that girl? She would make an excellent date!"

"That girl?" I gulped. Nothing would make me happier, although the thought of Kidori, freaking out in front of my family and claiming to be my long-lost lover, scared me senseless. Mom would have me married before I could recover from the embarrassment. I said, "Mom, you don't really want me to date her!"

"Why not? She is sweet, charming, and so impressive! Why, the very air about her is thick with emotion!"

At that moment, Gouman-chan had forced something into Kidori's hands, and Kidori pulled it over her face. The black cloud of energy that formed around her was even visible to me, in my dull-sensed male condition. I ducked as Kidori scanned the audience, her eyes flickering with red feral hunger. Mom whispered "Oh, my!" and shrank away from the stage.

The cry of the Primrose boomed off the far walls of the gym like echos from a cannon.

"-You won't let me enter your puny competition, will you? Very well! We hereby challenge the entire school!-"

HAIR (Gimme lots of hair):

Nabiki shook out her paper clip collection which substituted for most of the keys in the school. "Oh, sure. Piece of cake. The principal and I go back a long ways," she said to herself, until concentration made her jam her tongue into the corner of her mouth. "Even farther than he remembers. I know the layout of his office like the back of my hand. Of course, I haven't tried to sell test ponies since he's been back..."

She hesitated, suspicious. The door was not even locked.

After glancing about quickly for obvious traps, she pushed the door open and grumbled, "He is making it way too easy. Why hasn't anyone else tried this?"

The room was dimly lighted, festival torches on the wall blazing merrily in direct violation of the fire code, while fresh leis decorated palm shojis and draped over filing cabinets. The effect, with woven cane chairs and an oil drum desk, was of the interior of a crude Hawaiian beach hut.

Nabiki could see the wish credit card lying in plain sight in the center of the desk. She could hear, from behind a photograph of a sunlit beach, an electronic rendition of the hush and mutter of surf. There were other softer, more unsettling echoes. The further she went, the more certain she was that someone was here, waiting for her.

Abruptly, papers shuffled in the dim corner. Odors wafted her way, making her shiver as if ice water trickled down her spine. "Hello!" croaked a wet voice, dripping with ichor and slime.

No, wait, Nabiki thought. That isn't ichor. It's something else. It's...hair tonic. And the slime is hair cream. This realization did nothing to relieve the dread welling up from deep within her. She recognized the creature which creaked upright and sloped toward her, rattling and clicking implements of disfigurement.

The creature spoke, "A customer! Come in, come in, have a seat! My, it certainly has been a hot day, hasn't it? You can just bet it will storm, later. Of course this is nothing like the time we had two typhoons hit the city, back to back, in the fifties. And what do you think of the new second baseman they have for the Giants? He can really throw, can't he?"

Nabiki froze, her worst fears realized.

It was a barber.

"Oops! Wrong door!" Nabiki blurted, as she fled for the sake of her coiffure.

I CAN'T GET NO SATISFACTION:

The school hallway was the scene of a reunion of sorts, as a pudgy monk exclaimed in astonishment, "Sensei! You are here!"

"Ah, good day, Basho! Why the long face?"

"Sensei! You know I have followed the precepts of the Temple of the Good Deed! I have memorized the entirety of the concepts of my branch, the five sacred koans, the seventeen holy precepts, the twenty-three admonitions, the seventy-one prohibitions and the one hundred and one possible modulations. It all boils down to making a choice - to help someone or pass them by - but, why do people seem so unhappy every time I do a good deed?"

"That is a very good question, my boy!"

"I regret that I have failed in my understanding, Sensei!"

"On the contrary, you have done very well! You are now ready to read the scroll which contains the final wisdom of the Temple of the Good Deed!"

"I am?" Basho blinked back the tears of happiness which tumbled down over his puzzled frown.

SHE'S NOT THERE:

"You look pale, Aunty Nabiki," Hainoko said, meeting her at the door to the auditorium/gym. "Were you scared?"

"Of course I was scared! I nearly got scalped!"

Miss Hinako, pert and chipper and only slightly older than Hainoko, peeked in the door. "Have you seen Soun-san?" she asked. "He's supposed to be here for the assembly program."

"I didn't know he was planning anything," Nabiki said, looking around at the students milling about the auditorium. "Now, what's going on?"

"Primrose just handed the school a challenge letter," Hainoko explained as she skipped along behind Nabiki. "She says she and her backup singers will take on every girl in school, using rock and roll martial arts rules."

Pandemonium ruled as students debated at the top of their lungs and visited among their seats. Amidst the resulting furor, a stealthy but attractive figure dressed in black rushed up to the students.

"Konatsu!" Ukyo greeted him. She almost hugged him but caught herself in time and settled for grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Oh, Miss Ukyo!" cried Konatsu, "It was horrible! I was chained to a dishwashing machine in a restaurant, and I could not escape! They forced me to wash more and more dishes! If I caught up, they dropped food on the floor and make me clean that, too!"

"Is this what they used to bind you?" Ukyo asked, lifting the shackles hanging from Konatsu's wrists.

"Oh, yes, Miss Ukyo! I finally escaped when a link of my chain broke. I disguised myself as a customer and walked out!"

"Konatsu..." Ukyo said in disgust, taking one of the links and ripping it apart, "This is a paper chain. You could have gotten away from them at any time!"

"But Ukyo-sama!" Konatsu prostrated himself before his employer and wept, waving a printed form in front of her face, "Then I would have lost this five hundred yen performance bonus! It is a present, especially for you, a gift certificate from The Frilly Lady Lingerie Shop!"

"Really, Konatsu, I am touched," Ukyo fingered the paper as she struggled to compose a reply. "I am not sure exactly where I am touched, but I appreciate the thought. I was worried about you. Where were you? Who kidnapped you?"

"Oh! I have to tell you!" the world's best kunoichi blurted, "The school must not accept the challenge from the Primrose Path! It is a trick!"

Tatewaki Kuno had climbed the stage steps to address Primrose. "Very well, then!" he cried, "On behalf of my besotted pater, the principal of Furinkan High, the Kendo Club and martial artists of Furinkan High, and myself, The Noble Blue Thunder of Furinkan High..." he waited for the rumbling clouds to die away, then continued, "I accept this paltry, this boorish, yea, this very inconceivable challenge!"

"Umh...Kuno-baby. Shouldn't you think this over?" Nabiki called, "She's pretty tough, and we don't know a thing about her backup singers."

"What must one know? Indeed, what possible chance can mere minstrels have against the combined power of Furinkan? Do you fear they might beat us? Why, the very concept is inconceivable!"

"You keep using that word,'" Nabiki said, quoting from her favorite movie. "I do not think it means what you think it means.'"

"Behold!" Primrose cried, her eyes gleaming redly in the suddenly dimmed shadows, "I give you my backup singers!" She gestured toward the luminous shaft of a centerstage spotlight and announced:

"For tenor - Koeda!" Sakku-chan, stick-figure thin, wavered onto the stage and warbled a high-pitched tune as piercing as a macaw's caw.

"For bass - Koume!" Juupooku, a gargantuan hulk of a woman, advanced onto the stage and bellowed as deeply as the groaning of elephants pulling a circus train.

"For contralto - Kotet!" Kidori's stepmother waddled onto the stage and emitted a sound similar to a camel sneeze.

"For rhythm and 'dowah-dowah' noises: Gouman-chan and her Bodyguards!"

"We've been tricked!" cried Ukyo, "It's the Sexy Kunoichi Sisters!" (manga #35)

"And you have accepted my challenge!" crowed Kotet, the ugly step-mother. "When we win, you must pay the forfeit!"

Nabiki blinked. "Exactly what is this forfeit?" she asked, looking over Ukyo's shoulder while the okonamiyaki cook read the challenge letter.

"Oh. My. Gods." gasped Ukyo.

"What?" snapped Nabiki, but Ukyo clenched the paper in her fists, blocking her view.

"The horror. The sheer horror!"

"What? What? Let me see!"

"It's Kotet! She is going after Principal Kuno!"

"You mean she's..."

"Yes! She wants to marry him!"

"What'sa problem?" asked Ranma-chan, "She'll keep him so busy he won't have time to bother us."

"Unless she decides to help him," Nabiki piped up. "And don't forget, she has two...make that three...daughters to marry off. How'd you like another fiancee?"

Ranma-chan's face went white. "We gotta stop her!" she cried.

A moan arose from the back of the gym seating area. "My kiekes!" cried Principal Kuno in a shaking voice, "My lovin' kiekes! You gonna help de ol' man, ain'cha? You gonna give it de good ol' fight, fo de honor and the glory of Furinkan! An' keep de ol' man single, while y'at it, too."

With a sour look, Ranma-chan turned back to Ukyo, saying, "On the other hand, maybe it wouldn't be too much to endure if we 'accidentally' lost."

-------

To Kotet, onstage, Ranma-chan yelled, "Ya said you weren't going to cause any more trouble!"

"Oh, I never said that, young potential son-in-law! I merely said it was time to let my other step-child go!"

"Other?" Ranma-chan jerked to a stop, "...stepchild?"

"Allow me to present my step-daughter, Kidori!"

Primrose stepped forward and performed a graceful bow, the malice in her eyes belying the graciousness of her manners. She sneered loudly, "- Why should I have to repeat myself? I have already defeated all these female 'fighters'! Let them get past my sisters, then I will consider facing them again! -"

"...and also, my sister, Gouman-chan!" Kotet concluded. The dumpy lady beside her bobbed her head energetically, clenching her fists in a victory wave. Off-stage, two pseudo-sumos clapped vigorously.

"And, now," continued Kotet. "I think it is time that I claimed my just due, as a hard-working mother who has had to raise four darling daughters!"

"One of them was a boy!" Ranma-chan yelled.

"All the more sorrow for me!"

"Ya won't get away with this!" cried Ranma-chan, grabbing a tea-kettle and upending it over herself.

"Oh, sure," said the first student. "EVERYBODY has a spare kettle of hot water around for assemblies!"

"We must have tea for the rice cakes," explained the second student, his mouth full of cookie. "Raisin. Have one?"

Ranma, male, hit the stage. "I'm gonna stop ya!" he cried.

"Oh, no, you won't!" replied Kotet. "First technique! Theme song, 'Slip-sliding Away'!" She laughed as she threw a bowl of sesame seed oil onto the planks in Ranma's path. Ranma flailed his way helplessly over the edge of the stage, to disappear with a strange 'plonk' sound.

"That's not fair!" cried Akane, leaping to the stage to confront Kotet.

"Who says this contest is supposed to be fair? We'll ask the referee," Kotet said.

A skinny, bald-headed man, dressed in robes suited for a sumo-match official, emerged from behind the curtains. "She called the theme song!" he said, "In Martial Arts Rockn' Roll, you have to state your theme song! It's either that or sing as you fight, which is a waste of energy, I might say."

The referee placed a crystaline skull on the equipment rack and motioned to Michiro and Guapo. "You two will provide the music!" he stated. "You will start with Bach's Opus Number Nine."

"What do you think we are?" Guapo protested, "Bach isn't Rockn'Roll!"

The ref got in her face. "Lady, you don't pay my salary! And, if you like, we can continue this contest using my own rules and my own choice of music! How about Wagner? I LIKE Wagner!"

The referee turned to Michiro and grasped his collar with one hand. He lifted and growled, "It's all modern noise to me, as far as I'm concerned. Play it!" Raising a hand above his head, he snapped his fingers with the sharp crack of a lightning strike.

The electricity energized Michiro as he dropped back to his chair and grabbed his keyboard. Guapo joined in on muted tympani, and the soft strains of woodwinds and strings floated out over the spellbound audience.

"This is eerie," announced Michiro as his fingers flew across the keys. "Cool as heck, but eerie."

"Yeah," said Guapo, mentally debating the percussive possibilities of waltzing to Wagner. "So that's Bach? On an acid synthesizer?"

"Old head, new tool. I can dig it," said Michiro, positioning the skeleton head for best effect. "Bach to the future."

"Hey, no skulduggery!" called Guapo.

"Where's Ranma?" cried Akane, looking over the edge of the stage.

"Principal Kuno was trying to sneak out, and Ranma landed right on top of him," Nabiki said. "But where did the principal go? There's nothing here but this box. Unless..."

She was interrupted by a sinister laugh. Mara lifted the box and gloated into a small opening, "Now you are my prisoner, you fool! You'll not run off again! This trap is impervious! There is no way out!"

"What have you done?" cried Akane, "Ranma is in that thing, too!"

Mara gasped in dismay. "Oh, no! Muscle-boy? Cutie-Pie?" After a moment, she shrugged. "But, he'll be okay. After all, I have found my own true love. Muscle-boy'll just have to stay in there until I can call for my lock-opener."

"Oh, great," frowned Akane. "You can't open your own locks?"

"Nope. I'm not old enough," Mara stuck out her tongue. "The person who opens the lock must be strong, disciplined, and capable of acting without conscious thought!"

"That certainly leaves you out," Akane said with growing anger. "When WILL you be old enough?"

"In about six months, when this age-spell wears off."

"We can't wait!" Akane prepared a fist, "You'd better open it immediately!"

The Bach rendition ended and the two working members of the Primrose Path swung into Johnny B. Good'. Mara bounced away, snarling incoherently as she danced to the beat.

"I might've known she'd be no help!" Akane growled, "We have to open the trap as soon as possible! Keep trying, I'm going to gain time by fighting them!"

"Looks like somebody beat you to it." Nabiki, who had been watching the stage, drew back in surprise and added, "Now, WHO is that (As if I didn't know)?"

"A jerk in drag," Akane growled.

---------

The captain of the Rhythmic Gymnastics Club came to us with a request. "We want to enter the contest!" said the captain, "But we don't know anything about Rockn'Roll!"

"Got you covered," said Nabiki. "I happen to have several copies of the Rockn'Roll Club's rule-book, 'One Hundred Years of Rock and Roll'."

"This is too convenient," Ukyo noted. "Where did you find these?"

"Where do you think?" smirked Nabiki, "E-bay. Picked 'em up for a song."

HIROSHI:

We had examined the tiny box thoroughly and concluded that there was no way to get it open. The lock to the cage door seemed simple enough - a mere hasp. However, when anyone reached for the hasp, a silvery globe would snap around the catch and keep them from touching it.

"Look on the bright side. It could be worse," I said.

"Yeah? How?"

"At least the principal doesn't have his hair clippers."

"Thanks for little favors," growled Ranma's muffled voice from within the prison. "Get away from me, ya creep! I'll use those little plastic pre-school scissors on you!"

Ukyo glared at the lock balefully, saying, "We have to find someone who is strong, disciplined, and capable of acting without conscious thought!"

"In other words, we need to find a well-trained, headstrong idiot," Nabiki summarized. The idea clicked into being simultaneously in four minds, and we all shouted at the same time, "Kuno!"

"The lesser," Nabiki amended.

ANYTHING BY CAT STEVENS:

Tatewaki, dressed in a long wig and makeup, was trying to convince the referee to let him fight. The referee was having none of it.

"I am capable, disciplined, and a master swordsman without discernable flaw!" cried Tatewaki. "Why do you not allow me to enter the contest?"

"For one thing, if you use a weapon, it must be based on a musical instrument," the referee said, pointing at the bokken and shaking his head.

"For a second thing, you must choose a Rockn'Roll theme song. I've swallowed a bowl of anti-acid, but Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini' just won't hack it! Thirdly, you have to be female!" The referee shook his head and added, "If you are female, I'm going back to my old job, I have to say!"

Thwarted, Tatewaki assumed a posture both noble and tall. He grumbled in a surly tone, "Whilst, like a pufft and reckless libertine, himself the primrose path of dalliance treads! So be it! If music be the food of love, play on!" Turning his head, he added, "I see you lurking, Nabiki Tendo. What is it you want?"

"Oh, nothing, Kuno-baby. Unless you'd care to pick up that magic card without having to qualify for the contest. Free for the taking."

"Humph! You seek to lure me with your dulcet words. And yet, there may be gold among the dross. You may have my attention, if you will answer me this question: Why should you give this to me, freely, when you could have it for yourself? Such a prize would suit your worldly tastes."

"Did I say free? Well, there IS a guard, but he's an old geezer, no match for your weaponry. As to why I don't take it...let's just say I haven't decided that revenge is worth a Mohawk, yet. There is only one little favor I want to ask in return."

As she led Tatewaki away to explain what was going on, the first genuine challenger made her way centerstage. The lights dimmed. The audience hushed. The challenger announced her theme song.

"Shampoo choose...La Bamba!"

There was an immediate uproar from the assembled members of the Furinkan Rockn'Roll Club. "This is an outrage!" cried their leader, "Her weapons are bonbori, not musical instruments!"

"And that is NOT allowed according to our rule book," added a secondary sequined spokesperson as the leader scribbled hurried changes. "It says so here!"

Shampoo held aloft one bonbori and shook it, filling the stage with the rushing sound of many steel ball bearings.

"Maracas," she smiled sweetly.

"I'll allow it!" called the referee.

Loudspeakers boomed Ritchie Valen's 'La Bamba' as Shampoo stalked to the center of the stage, and an angry howl announced Mara's performance of the Mexican Hat Dance.

Shampoo raised her weapons. The challengers chose their spot nearby, seemingly unconcerned as the referee checked the time and announced, "Fight!"

The amazon started to charge the trio but paused, perplexed, at the sight of her three opponents ignoring her and turning to face each other.

"Superior Altitude Attack!" cried Kotet, "Theme song, 'Higher and Higher!'" Juupooku formed the base and hoisted Kotet onto her back, followed by Sakku-chan. With Sakku-chan on her shoulders, Kotet called, "Change theme song to 'Raindrops'!"

Sakku-chan opened a bottle of water and sent the liquid arcing toward Shampoo, who dived out of the way, late a girl and early a cat.

"Mrow!" she cried angrily, but was quickly scooped up and dropped through the stage trap door.

-creak-

-thud- "Mrow?"

-slam-

"Next?" Kotet asked in a saccharine voice.

--------

Grateful villagers surrounded the noble, handsome samurai, who observed their sorry condition from beneath lowered eyelids. He would have to perform an extremely heroic deed to save them from their wretched situation.

"Let me get this straight," Tatewaki said slowly. "My poltroonous father has been locked into an unbreakable cell, where he cannot get out and no one else can get in, and you feel that I am the only person in the entire school capable of freeing him?"

"Yes!" blurted the head of the village, a blunt-spoken, sharp tongued harridan, "You have to open the lock!"

Their discourse was interrupted by a hail from the edge of the crowd, "Come to me, my darling Tatewaki-chan!"

The samurai shivered, despite the warm wind blowing in across the rice. "Methinks I should depart, lest my presence attract unwanted attention," he murmured. "But fear not! I shall, indeed, complete this difficult mission!"

Nabiki could only roll her eyes as she watched him slip away.

--------

"I shall exterminate the vermin!" Kodachi cried, bounding onto the stage.

"Hey, she's not even in this school!" complained one student. He was quickly silenced by another student.

"She's a guest performer," said the other student, who then pointed at Kotet. "Besides, do you want to think of THAT thing accompanying the principal to school on visiting days?"

"Urk," said the first student.

"I have chosen my theme song!" cried Kodachi, as she limbered up with a rolling snap of her ribbons. "You may begin the accompaniment! My song is..."

"Poison Ivy!" roared the student body.

"...how very clever of you to guess," Kodachi smiled as she coiled her ribbons. She blew a kiss of roses to the boys in the front row, stunning those who did not duck in time. To her opponents she gave a cool stare and a haughty sniff.

The referee approached her to say, "Your opponents have entered an objection! They say your weapons are illegal and you should be disqualified. You have to fight with musical instruments. Those are the rules, I must say."

Kodachi frowned over at Juupooku, who was lifting a steel bass as she would an axe. Sakku-chan had prepared a flute to use as a blow-gun.

"I...see," Kodachi mused. "I suppose I shall have to become creative. For the sake of argument, would you mind if I used this roll-up party favor as an impromptu musical instrument?" She blew into the device, which unrolled and whistled, tickling the ref's chin.

"Not at all," sniffed the ref, after a moment of thought. "That could qualify as a weapon of distraction."

Kodachi looked sharply at him and then at the roll-up whistle. She lowered her face to the party favor, took a whiff, jerked back, uncrossed her eyes and shook her head. She wheezed, "Then I can use anything that might make music?"

The referee turned to the Sexy Kunoichi Sisters for their opinion and got a glare in return. "Anything that makes music," he decided.

"Then I'll take my ribbons and my gym clubs," Kodachi said. She produced a set of clubs and started bouncing them off the floor in a staccato beat, while her ribbons hummed a simple melody in tune.

The referee observed the display of dexterity with a critical eye. He wiped away a sheen of sweat and smiled tightly. "I'll allow it!" he called. To the fighters and the audience, he bellowed, "Fight!"

'Poison Ivy' boomed out over the loudspeakers. With a muffled curse, Mara began to dance.

"Defensive theme song! 'Hearts Made of Stone!'" cried Kotet, as she and Sakku-chan huddled behind Juupooku. Juupooku, in turn, drew in her breath and concentrated until she appeared to ossify in place, forming a barrier that Kodachi's clubs and ribbon whips could not penetrate.

Kotet called, from behind the barrier, "Behold our truly inspired invention! We have condensed over ten thousand hours of governmental legislation into an atomizer, which we can project toward anyone we choose! It is a powerful soporific, which will put anyone to sleep! We call it, 'Make the World Go Away'!"

"I won't breath it!" cried Kodachi, "You cannot force me to inhale this noxious perfume!"

"Now, we send forth our most powerful champion! You cannot defeat - Koeda! Look upon her fearsome features and despair!" Sakku-chan, so thin she appeared skeletal, staggered onto the stage under a burden of full samurai armor.

"You think to best me with that piteous creature?" Kodachi laughed, sending chills down the spine of every person in the auditorium who had been out of range of the potent legislative mist. Unfortunately, when she finished laughing she took a breath and fell instantly comatose.

-creak-

-kathud-

"Mraw? My.r.r.r.r.r...Hisss!"

"Silence, you wretched feline! I'm trying to sleep!"

-slam-

--------

They met in secrecy, the samurai and the hapless villager. Desperately, the headmistress elaborated upon the situation, yet her words brought no comfort to the noble samurai.

There were...complications.

The samurai eyed her narrowly and spoke, "And in this same cell has been caught - by pure happenstance - my worst enemy, the cretinous Ranma Saotome. He also cannot get out, in order to fight a duel?"

"Yes, you must hurry!" cried the harried villager.

Before he could discover more, the samurai was interrupted by a distressing hail, "Crush me in your manly arms, my beloved!"

"Anon, I must away!" Tatewaki shivered as he spake, "Yet, how can one mere child cause such consternation? This girl is a demon, I tell you!"

"Funny you should mention that," Nabiki remarked. "But go on, don't let me stop you."

--------

"I guess I'm next!" Ukyo called as she clambered onto the stage. She set herself, bracing for the fight. A shadow, hidden in the glare of spotlights, suddenly flickered to the stage before her.

"Mother! I won't let you hurt my darling Ukyo!" declared Konatsu, alighting between the three ninjas and the okonomyaki chef. His step-mother stopped to regard him, then loosed a knotted kerchief. There was a silverish glint and metal rattled.

"Oh, how careless of me!" said Kotet, "I dropped a five-yen coin! And, there! I dropped a ten-yen coin!"

"And another!" Konatsu gasped at the wealth rolling about as he scrambled to collect the coins, "And another! Why, it's like a trail of coins, leading to..."

-creak-

"...a trap door (oops)."

-thud-

"Myrow!"

-slam-

"Next!" cried Kotet, triumphantly. "Oh, I forgot to call that one! Theme song, 'Pennies from Heaven!'"

"That's not even Rockn'Roll!" cried Ukyo.

"Care to explain that to Mister Bronze Age' over there?" Kotet's face contorted into a grisly grin, "Or would you rather be fighting to March of the Marsupials' by Wagner?"

"Yes! Anything!" Michiro sobbed, listening in horror as his beloved equipment produced a mellow, muted cornet solo. "I can take Bach, but this is Big Band Sound! Let's get something else going! This ain't my gig, Man!"

As she waltzed by with an alarmed Tatewaki struggling in her grasp, Mara called, "It's not Disco, and it's not Rockn'Roll, and I don't care as long as I have my sweetie!"

The president of the Furinkan Rockn'Roll Club dashed up to the referee, who was moving his finger along to the melody as though conducting the orchestra. "We protest!" cried the prez. "This has gone far enough! This is ludicrous! This is NOT Rockn'Roll! We withdraw our sponsorship! (and you can forget our participation to the annual picnic next year!)"

"'Shake, Rattle and Roll'!" Ukyo was moving as she shouted, striking with the unbridled force of a natural disaster, her spatulettes plowing machine-gun gouges in the stage floor, narrowly missing the three kunoichis, herding them toward the rear of the stage. She had them boxed into a corner, whirling her economy-sized industrial-strength spatula for a finishing blow, when mist suddenly swirled about her and she heard a voice.

Ranma's voice.

"My one and only prayer..."

Ukyo found herself strolling along a tiny brook which meandered through a cozy park. Nearby, a familar shape held a microphone and crooned.

"Is that someday you'll care..."

Ukyo's battle glare softened as tears filled her eyes. Ranma's face remained shadowed as he turned, his soft voice teasing her, and she felt her heart thrill with excitement, with love for him. He was hers.

"My hopes, my dreams come true..."

The figure stepped toward her and, though his face was blurred by her tears, she knew him to be her love.

"My one and only you...but it's only..."

At long last. He had come to her. She had won him. Her love. Her hopes, her dreams.

Then Ranma removed the mask and she felt ropes fall about her. Suddenly she was struggling in bonds held by the gargantuan ninja, while the figure of Ranma standing before her resolved into a dumpy matron.

"Advanced kunoichi technique, 'Only make-believe'," announced Kotet with a savage smile. As Michiro belatedly struck up the tune, the creak-slam of a trap-door echoed across the stage.

--------

"So, my worthless father lies trapped in a tiny cell," the handsome samurai summarized the situation, having had his circulation restored after enduring the attentions of the demon-child. "Also trapped is my sworn enemy, the Svengali Ranma Saotome. And you say that if the foul Saotome does not escape and vanquish his competitors, then my father would be forced to marry some horrendous ogre?"

"Yes, yes!" The sharp-tongued headmistress wailed, wringing her hands in abject supplication.

"And I am the only one capable of freeing them..." The noble samurai placed a cool hand upon his furrowed brow.

"I shall have to think about this," he said.

------

"That's it, I have to fight them!" Akane shouted, "There is no one else left!"

Nabiki stopped her and handed her a book with a garishly decorated cover and a tag which read, Nabiki Tendo Enterprises.' "You'll need this," she said. "It's a list of all the possible theme songs you could use."

Akane flipped through the book and frowned. "These are all American songs! Why can't I use a traditional Japanese theme song?"

"Ask him," Nabiki beckoned the referee over, telling him, "My sister wants to use The Riverboat Song'."

"Can't do it!" the referee said. "Too happy. It tells a recognizable story."

"A theme song can't be happy?" Akane sputtered in disbelief.

"In order to qualify, the theme song must be Rockn'Roll! This means incomprehensible lyrics, loud and brash rhythm and it must make absolutely no sense to an adult. I can understand The Riverboat Song'. I can understand The Maiden and the Samurai'. I have wept to the tune of The Chrysanthmum and the Rose'. Therefore, they are disqualified."

"Oh, great! He's making up the rules as we go along!" growled Akane. "What'll I do, now?"

Nabiki had been turning pages. "Here's one," she said, pointing to a title.

"Sixteen Tons?" Akane said, with an expression she might have worn after tasting her own Inquisition Ragu.

"Not legal!" cried the spokesperson for the FR'RC (Furinkan Rockn'Roll Club). "Look! Chapter Twelve, paragraph two, subsection twenty-one! Sixteen Tons' is a folk song! It has a story!"

"I'll allow it!" called the referee. "It has violence in it! That's enough for me, I must say! Ready!" he shouted, and the band played.

Mara danced by, singing, "One fist of iron, the other of steel'!"

The pseudo-sumos appeared, wearing beefy grins and regulation

sumo fighting gear in addition to a single silver beaded glove.

"I'll hit her high!" sang Matsoyorou.

"And I'll hit her low!" replied Tengu.

Starting from opposite curtains, the two massive mountains of muscle (and belly) zeroed in on the girl standing centerstage. There followed the dull angry smack of prizefighters hammering blows into cold beef carcasses suspended from chains in a chill, lonely freezer. A single, pathetic, battered body thudded to the floor and slid into a corner.

And then another battered body.

Akane poised, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet, facing the Kunoichi siblings and awaiting their next move.

"That went well," said Kotet.

Gouman-chan muttered a brief, scathing description of the pseudo-sumo's martial arts capabilities. "There went twelve months of correspondence course sumo school!" she snarled.

"I only paid for ten months tuition," Kotet responded, checking her bank statement.

"I should have known they would play hooky!" Gouman-chan glared at the two bruised pseudo-sumos, while Mara took advantage of the break in music to slip over to offer condolences.

"Eeeek!" cried a member of the audience, "There's a child on the stage where they are fighting!"

"Oh, no!" Akane exclaimed, grabbing the youngster's hand and dragging her out of danger, "You've got to come away from here!" Feeling an unexpected resistance, she took a second look at the little girl. She was trying to drag the spindly Koeda away, and Koeda was carrying a Ninja All-Purpose Throwing Net (c) which she used to bind Akane. No matter how she fought, the gooey strands held her immoble.

"Theme song, 'Stuck on You'!" Kotet called.

-creak-

-whump-

"Get off of me, you jackass!"

"Well, I'm SORRY! It's not like I had any choice in the matter!"

"Just watch it, okay? Keep looking, Konatsu! There has to be a way out!"

"Miss Ukyo, I'm so terribly sorry! There are too many dummy doors!"

"Myrow?"

"Shaddup, you jackass!"

"Myrow!"

"Well, you aren't helping any!"

-slam-

"I think that takes care of all our worries," said Kotet. Gouman-chan joined her for a victory hug and a wave at the on-lookers. Their celebration was interrupted.

"We challenge you!"

"What's this?" Gouman-chan said, "A girl's glee club?"

"We are the Rhythmic Gymnastics Team of Furinkan and we challenge you!"

"You already said that," the referee mentioned, testily. "Name your theme song!"

"Ah...we choose...we choose..." The head of the team frantically scoured their copy of 100 Years of Rockn'Roll' recently purchased from Nabiki. She finally shouted, "We choose 'Tutti Frutti'!"

"Tooty Fruity?" The Kunoichi Sisters looked at each other in consternation. "A breakfast cereal?"

"Awhopbop-a-bebop-a-whaap-bam-boom," called Michiro, slapping the keyboard with gusto. The resulting crescendo sent Mara cartwheeling across the stage, spitting multiple curses.

"Oh, THAT Tootie Frootie," smiled Kotet.

"An American love song," I remembered out loud. "I used to sing it in the shower."

"Oh, that is all right, Hiroshi-chan," Mom reassured me. "We were able to repair all the cracked tiles."

Mara, whirling to the tutti frutti beat, caromed off Tatewaki, who was pondering weighty variables. Tatewaki's bokken sliced down, severing the lock before the silvery globe could form to block him. There came a sound like the inflation of a liferaft. Two men rolled out onto the auditorium floor, the elder clutching a pair of child's plastic scissors, the younger fending him off in anger.

"I'm free!" laughed Ranma, breaking away and dancing with glee.

"Now we will win!" I called to the Kunoichi Sisters on stage, "Ranma is unbeatable!"

"Unless..." Daisuke said in a thoughtful voice.

"Unless?" I regarded him with apprehension.

Daisuke raised a forefinger. "To enter the contest, Ranma must fight in his female form. Unfortunately, while he is female he does not have as much strength, and his opponents are formidable."

There was a muffled bell as the fire alarm malfunctioned. Again. The brief spray was centered on Ranma. "You did that on purpose!" shrilled the petite redhead.

"And then there is his fear of cats," continued Daisuke, raising his index finger to point out the obvious. Shampoo uttered a solitary yowl as she struggled out from beneath the stage.

"Ca...ca..." Ranma-chan stiffened and edged away, forgetting momentarily about Tatewaki.

"My love!" Kuno cried, "You are here to cheer me on in my heroic effort to save the school!" With that he accomplished a roundhouse, around the bosom glomp. Ranma-chan glowed in anger and prepared to pound him.

Daisuke held up a third finger and said, "Not to mention the fact that he can be taken down any day of the week if he acts up in school."

Miss Hinako, accompanied by Soun, rushed into the auditorium. She took note of the two combatants and shrieked, "Delinquents!" Resolutely, she removed a ring from her right hand and sighted through it.

"Eeep!" cried both Kuno and Ranma-chan, as they were drained of their fighting chi.

"You had to mention it, didn't you?" I groaned.

"You boys want to give up while we are ahead?" came a raspy voice. The step-mother, the two step-sisters, and the thing that had been Kidori moved forward on the stage.

"Now, I think we are in trouble," Daisuke whispered. As I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, I had to agree.

End: Chapter Sixteen

Confessions: I do apologize for inclusion of the song, "Itsy-Bitsy Teeny-Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," since it has become such an overused cliche for bad music that everyone cringes whenever they hear it mentioned. Which is why I mentioned it. Of course, not all the tunes included in this tale are pure Rock'n Roll. Hey, you actually expected a competition in Ranma to be fair?

Partial list of name-droppings:Black Magic Woman, by Santana.  
Hair, sung by the cast.  
I Can't Get No Satisfaction, sung by the Rolling Stones  
She's Not There, sung by the Zombies  
Slip-sliding Away, sung by Simon and Garfunkel.  
Bach's Opus Number Nine, performed by Your Imagination.  
Johnny B. Good, sung by Chuck Berry  
La Bamba, sung by Ritchie Valens.  
Poison Ivy, sung by the Coasters.  
Higher and Higher, sung by Jackie Wilson  
Raindrops, sung by Dee Clark.  
Hearts Made of Stone, sung by (can't remember)  
Make the World Go Away, sung by Eddy Arnold.  
Pennies from Heaven, played by The Orchestra in Your Mind  
March of the Marsupials, by Wallaby Wagner.  
Only Make-Believe, sung by Conway Twitty.  
Sixteen Tons, sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford.  
Stuck on You, sung by Elvis Presley.  
Tutti Frutti, sung by Little Richard.


	17. There is No 'Happily Ever After'

Disclaimer: No gerbils have been harmed in the writing of this fanfic. We'd like to thank the gerbils who appeared in this fic, despite the danger to life and limb. To show them there are no hard feelings, we wish to award them the Rock Cliff certificate of good taste. 

No, wait. That didn't sound quite right -

ASHES - A Cinderella Story

Chapter Seventeen - There is No 'Happily Ever After'

When the weaving's all been done  
Raise your fabric to the sun  
Kiss your partner, wish her well  
Chapter Seventeen's going to tell.

HIROSHI: (Do You Believe in Magic (reprise))

"'Hunka-hunka Burning Love!'"

Another member of the Furinkan Rhythmic Gymnastics Club fled past, tears streaming and hair scorched as the Kunoichi Sisters worked on polishing off the last challengers.

Winning is not everything. Winning, however, would have meant saving the girl I had grown to love, instead of seeing her stolen by the demon in the mask.

"We're doomed," I announced.

Defeat took the form of lost love, a never-never sweetheart who snarled down at me, her eyes glowing savagely through the slits in her mask.

Defeat took the form of a hideous stepmother, face contorted in an inimaginably ghastly grin as she planned what tortures she was going to visit upon the poor, innocent schoolchildren of Furinkan. Okay, so we weren't so innocent. We were school... teenagers. Faintly impoverished.

"Doomed!"

And in trouble.

"Will you pipe down, Hiroshi? I'm trying to get some better odds, here."

Defeat took the form of an uncaring Nabiki Tendo, pragmatically chasing after the almighty yen. I had chased after an almighty yen, myself, and what had it had gained me? Nothing. Shame. Sorrow.

"WE'RE DOOMED!"

"Hiroshi?"

Defeat took the form of another Nabiki, a little over a meter tall, so short that I had to lean over to speak to her. This miniature Nabiki tugged at my shirt sleeve and tried to get my attention, while the regulation sized Nabiki tried to justify her actions, "Maybe I can salvage something. We're screwed, anyway."

I could only agree. I had lost the ability to turn into Cinderella. Ranma was out of the fight. Kotet was going to be our school mother. Worst of all, I was going to lose Kidori forever. She was going to win the card, but it would not be her making the wish. It would be the creature in the mask, and I could only imagine what she had in store for me. She'd probably want to kill me. Or worse. The possibilities were immense. For a hopeful instant I wondered if might survive chains and leather.

The little Nabiki nudged my elbow again. I looked closer, to see that my eyes had been fooling me. It was Hainoko, but there was something different about her. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Then it hit me. I reached over and poked the real Nabiki in the ribs.

"You'd better have a good reason..." Nabiki growled as she swung away from her bookkeeping. Seeing Hainoko nonchalantly waving a glittering slip of plastic in the air, she whooped aloud. "You did it? How'd you get past the barber?"

Hainoko tilted her head and posed, the better to show off her new look. "All he wanted was to give somebody a haircut," she grinned.

Nabiki grabbed the card, held it to the light and kissed it. "We're saved!" she cried, then she turned back to Hainoko. "Tell you what, Sport," she said. "I can't use this thing by myself. I have to share. Care to help me think up a good wish?"

Hainoko nodded, thinking hard. "I know what I'd want," she said.

"I can think of something..." I began.

"Let's do it!" Nabiki said.

Hainoko held her hand up, palm facing Nabiki. Nabiki hesitated, puzzled. Then she grinned and raised her hand also. Their palms met with a smack, and Hainoko grinned wider. "Hifive!" she cried, "Let's go payback!"

"Payback?" Nabiki laughed, her eyes focused on something beyond our small group. It made my stomach quiver, that snarl of angry mirth. It announced vendetta, her right to slay, pillage, and maim in blood-feud. She was going to exact revenge.

- ping - - attention: this card is being deactivated - - please wait while wish #2 is being formatted - - six percent -

"Wait! Did you hear that?" I cried, "There's only one wish left!"

"Yes, you're right," mused Nabiki. "And we have to make sure we use it wisely - to turn you back into Cinderella so you can beat whatzizface and teach them a lesson."

"But there's no point in that! By then, there won't be any wishes left!"

"I want to wish for Cinderella!" Hainoko piped up.

"We have to use the wish to free Kidori!" I cried.

"You wouldn't have gotten this far without me!" growled Nabiki.

"I want my big brother to be Cinderella!" whined Hainoko.

- nineteen percent - - twenty percent -

Hainoko and Nabiki grabbed the card while I reached for it without success. Frantically, we spoke as one:

"I wish for revenge!" "I wish for Cinderella!" "I wish to free Kidori!"

- ping - - wish #1 will be formatted next - - please wait while wish #2 is formatted - - ninety-three percent -

"Uh - oh," I said.

- accepting multi-user participation - - only two participants are permitted to express terms. - - will the two nearest clients state their wishes? -

Nabiki and Hainoko grinned at me and spoke.

"I/I...wish/wish...for/for...revenge/Cinderella!"

- ninety-eight percent - - please restate the conditions of wish number one -

They said, together, "I wish..." Nabiki kept talking after Hainoko had said her piece, but I was too busy trying to keep on my feet to listen. The tremor from the wish must have juddered bottles off store shelves twenty kilometers away.

HIROSHI: (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun)

On stage, the Kunoichi Sisters had dumped the last contestant through the trapdoor.

"We won!" crowed Kotet, "Now, you must give us the prize!"

"Can't do that, yet! Gotta see if there are any more contestants!" cried the referee, "Last call! Anybody else?"

All conversations ceased and a deathly quiet fell upon the audience. In the vastness of the gymnasium, someone coughed. A hushed murmur began along the front aisles, where space was being made for someone to pass through.

A lone girl mounted the steps to the stage and smiled confidently at the Kunoichi Sisters.

"Hello, Boys," purred Nabiki. "Remember me?"

"You are a weakling!" Sakku-chan shrilled. "Surely you do not mean to challenge us!"

"Oh, I challenge you, all right. Knock down, drag out, winner take all. Want to quit while you can? Last chance."

"We accept! Defend yourself!"

"Gladly," Nabiki smiled a grim smile. "However, if you will indulge me for just a moment..." She disappeared over the side of the stage, and when she returned she was dragging a very apprehensive boy.

Me.

She released my arm and turned me around to face the audience. "What are you trying to do?" I hissed at her. "You're making a fool of me!"

"Oh, don't be silly, Hiroshi!" she assured me, "I'm already too late for that. Are you ready?"

"Here? In front of everybody?" I tried to pull away from her. Mom would see. Worse, Pops would see. Even worse, Mom had collected a set of the most embarrassing photos. She would take a look at them, take a look at me and then she would freak out. And worst of all, Pops would get a look at her collection, put two and two together and I would be pizza on the road to higher education.

"This is as good a place as any," Nabiki said smugly. "Yes or no?"

"Can't I have a curtain or something?"

The referee tramped over to us. "Quit stalling!" he demanded, "We have to end this!"

"Hold your horses!" Nabiki replied. She shoved a folded paper at me. "Recognize this?"

"Oh, no," I gulped. "It's another contract, isn't it?"

"Right on," she said, all business. "This one, however, is from MY wish. I expect you to hang around after you win this match, in order to repay your debt. A real, live photo session. None of this fifty poses in fifty seconds martial arts modeling monkey business."

"Never!"

"In that case, I'll simply rip it up..."

"Wait!" I fairly squealed. "Okay! Okay! I'll do it!"

"One last chance, Lady!" the ref called, displaying a stopwatch.

"Almost done!" Nabiki assured him, then turned to me. "According to this, you have to proclaim your desire aloud. You have to say..."

Squeezing my eyes closed tight helped me to shut out the audience, whose stare shoved against me with the force of a rushing tide. Mom was staring wide-eyed. I knew that look. She wanted to be onstage, beside her little boy. Pops had his head down, and I shuddered as I realized that he was looking at the photos.

I made my decision, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. I had to do it. I was trembling with dread when I uttered the phrase which would expose me, "Legal Briefs!"

Nothing changed.

Delighted, Nabiki said, "Hey! That was pretty good! Actually, though, all you have to say is 'I want to be Cinderella.'"

I groaned. Might have known she'd find some way to humiliate me. Still, it was better than appearing half-naked. I think.

Closing my eyes, I said, quickly, "i want to be cinderella." When I opened them, everything was still the same, except that Nabiki had cupped an ear toward me to hear better.

I balked and whispered, indicating the audience. "If I say it louder, THEY can hear!" If anything, her predatory grin became even wider. I added, "You...are...evil."

"You want me to 'ripriprip'?"

"No! Wait!" I was near panic, watching the trio of kunoichis loom closer. I blurted, "Okay! Okay! I'll say it louder! I want to be Cinderella!"

She shook her head at me, saying, "I don't think they heard you on the back row."

In helpless rage I gritted my teeth and growled, "I am going to pound you!"

"I don't think so. Louder, please?"

I hadn't noticed that the audience had quieted their murmurs to hear our argument. When I gathered my strength and shouted, "'I WANT TO BE CINDERELLA!'," my words reverberated throughout a silent building.

In the nearby rows, someone giggled. Farther away, upperclassmen hooted in derision. This was insignificant compared to the shock showing on Pops face. I felt my own face burning an incandescent indigo.

"What happened?" I demanded, "Why didn't I change?"

"Oops. Sorry about that. Must have forgotten the fine print," Nabiki held the paper up to the light and squinted. "Here it is! You must then say the words, 'Truly, Truly, Truly'."

"What?" I exploded. "I humiliated my parents and I shamed myself in front of the entire school because you didn't read all the stupid instructions? If it didn't work when I said, 'I want to be Cinderella,' it won't work when I say, 'truly, truly, truly'!"

-poof-

"I hate you," I snarled sweetly.

My double breasted coat was a cheerful robin's egg blue, ending at the waist in front but with tails in the back. A silk tie, detailed with yen-shaped embroidery, poufed out at the neck to complement the lace blouse, and my mini-skirt was pin-striped blue silk. I was ready for business, Cinderella-style.

"Don't forget our agreement," Nabiki said as I turned to go. "After the fight, you'll stay Cinderella long enough for my photo session. After all, you owe me!"

"Is that all you worry about?" I blazed back at her. "Listen! If you think I'm going to sweat - "

"Glow," she said firmly.

" - what?"

"Boys sweat. Girls glow."

"Of all the...If you think I'm going to glow my butt off so you can sell a few pictures..."

"Woah!" she interrupted, owl-eyed, "I have to think about that for awhile. If you can do that on camera..."

"Arrrrgh!" I stormed past her and headed for the fight. A glance out into the audience showed that Pops had been hiding his face in shame, although he was still digging through the photos. Mom had been freshening her makeup. They hadn't seen me change.

Then Hainoko broke the calm. She squeaked, "Go, Hiroshi! Clobber 'em!"

Mom looked up from her mirror and said, "Where did your brother go? What did you say, Dear?"

Remembering how her mother had reacted the last time she had tried to tell her the truth, Hainoko faltered, "Uh - nothing, Mommy."

"Dear, you must tell me! I don't see him anywhere! Please! I am getting worried!"

Hainoko pointed to the cute blonde in short business suit and glasses and said, "There he is!"

Squinting into the stage lights, Mom said, "Where?"

"The one in blue."

"I recognize her! She's Hiroshi's girlfriend! The one we thought was haunting him!"

"I told you, she's not a ghost, Mommy. That's Hiroshi."

Pops blurted, "My boy's dressing up in a skirt? I'm going to KILL him!"

"No, no, Poppy! You don't understand," Hainoko grabbed his hand to point in the right direction. "Take a real close look!"

Now it was Pops' turn to squint. "I still don't see him."

"Over on the right. Facing that big, ugly, blue suede ninja."

"But that's a girl!" Pops sputtered, "Where's Hiroshi?"

"No," Mom said weakly, as realization sank in. "Dear, I think she means that girl IS Hiroshi."

Hainoko nodded. "That's how you say it," she agreed. "He made a wish! Isn't it great? Any time he wants to, he can turn into Cinderella!" Hainoko's bubbling joy faded as she saw Pops' expression.

Pops scrubbed his face with his palms. "This ain't funny! I hear Cinderella songs on the radio all day long. I am SICK of Cinderella songs!" He looked again and said, in a hopeful voice, "She don't LOOK like Hiroshi."

HIROSHI: (Poor Little Fool)

The referee greeted me with a word of caution, "Now, I want you to take it easy, Son. Remember to give your theme song for each attack you make. Now, go in there and put on a good show!" I was left staring after him as he returned to his neutral corner of the stage. I looked at my business suit and said to myself, 'Son?'

There was no time for introspection. My opponents awaited me. Two of them shoved forward and said, "Aha! And now we have you!"

"Whatever. Let's get this over so I can get down to the real fighting," I said, failing to notice an unnatural glow about them. They seemed bigger, somehow.

A fist materialized out of nowhere and I found myself standing halfway across the stage, having left skidmarks from the soles of my black patent shoes. "I didn't even see him move!" I complained, stepping up to Matsoyouro - this time with more caution. I got close enough to see the feverish gleam in his eyes before I was hit three times, rapid fire, once from the left, once from the right and one uppercut that tumbled me over the referee.

"Don't sweat it," called the ref as he watched me sail past. "They didn't name their theme song, so that doesn't count, I must say."

I landed on my feet, ready for my next attack. This time I remembered that I needed a theme song, but I was so shocked by my adversary's sudden improvement that my mind was blank. Matsoyouro high-fived Tengu and they tummy-slammed in exuberant joy, before turning to face me with malevolent grins on their glowing faces.

Wait-a-minute. Glowing?

"Got you!" crowed Mara, appearing from behind the two correspondence course sumos, dancing without benefit of music. She was skipping with hysterical joy. "This'll teach you to mess with ME! I gave these guys my power-ups and you can't touch them! Nyah! Gotcha-gotcha-gotcha!"

I had to hit them fast and often, so I sang out my theme song, "Rubber Ball!" I hit them fast, but not fast enough. I tried to hit them hard, but I was so busy bouncing I couldn't touch them. After what seemed like hour or two of pounding, I found myself dusting the stage floor with the back of my pin-striped skirt. Again, the ref reprimanded the sumo brothers, telling them that their defense did not count because they could not think of a theme song. I didn't care. I was aching all over. I was angry.

Something snapped inside me and I felt all of the strength and power I had inherited from Kidori flood through my body. My anger boiled over and I charged, forgetting finesse. I was going to break past them.

The beating resumed.

The sumo brothers slung me from one end of the stage to the other. They swatted me back and forth like a badminton shuttlecock. They shot hoops with me. Then they flipped me disdainfully off to the side, gave each other high-fives, and swaggered down the stage in triumph. I wound up on my back, my head hanging over the edge, seeing an inverted Ranma-chan.

"This feels familiar," I groaned.

"Y'got any ideas?" Ranma-chan said, wavering slightly.

"They aren't that powerful," I said, trying to sit up. "But when I get close enough to hit them, they move so fast I can't catch them!"

She observed the gloating warriors. "Stand back and hit'em," she suggested. "Use a chi-blast."

"Right," I groaned. "Such as your Mokotakabisha? I can't even pronounce it."

"Heck, ya got nough power to pulverize 'em. All ya gotta do is believe that," Ranma-chan assured me. Upside down, her grin looked weak.

I raised my head enough to see that my tormentors were huddled on the other end of the stage, deciding on their next technique. I tried again to rise. I had to get up and meet them.

One of my hands worked when I tried to sit up. That was an improvement. I was getting stronger. Slowly. "Only one thing to do," I said, grimly. "Go back in and get beat up until my strength comes back. If I live that long."

"Waaaahh!" cried Pops, "My son, the girl, is going to get his tutu trimmed! Oh, the shame!"

"Shut up!" Mom said. "She's going to get hurt! Hiroshi! Run!"

"Not while I can help it," I growled, dismayed because my voice made me sound as if I were addressing a bunch of children.

I don't know where the blue haze came from, cause I felt like seeing red. Still, my hands began to tingle and the blue glow around them intensified until I was holding a ball of light in my cupped hand.

Then, like a tidal wave, confidence surged through me. I felt my muscles tingle, and a grim smile contorted my face. Matsoyouro saw it and turned to say something to Tengu. Tengu shrugged off whatever was said, as he lowered his head. Together they charged, attempting to ram me off the stage. I had to think quickly. What theme would combine my fighting style of Cinderella with Rockn'Roll? The rhythmic pounding of their feet on the hardwood floor answered my question and my smile tightened.

"Great Balls of Fire!" I announced. Tengu and Matsoyouro kept coming and I shrugged, fatalistically. I had warned them.

"Kabochakazanbakuhatsu!" the words ripped from my throat, exploding a brilliant orange ball of flame from my cupped hands. Tengu raised his head enough to see it coming, but he was going too fast to stop. The blast erupted between the two human tanks, knocking them through the back wall. In the ensuing silence, I dusted off my hands and turned my attention back to the contest.

Pops stared at me in shocked surprise. "My son the girl shoots fireworks?" he scratched his head. "It's not bad enough he's an exhibitionist, he has to be a firebug?"

Mom just stared at the holes in the back of the stage, her mouth in an 'O'. "What an exit!" she exclaimed.

Pops stared at me, tears leaking down his cheeks. "My friends at work bring trophies to show what their kids have done!" he cried, "Me, I never worried. 'My kid's a slow starter,' I would tell them. 'One of these days, my kids going to do something that'll make your kids look like amateurs!' Now what does my kid do? He puts on a dress! Oh, the shame! Oh, the humiliation! My kids a cross-dresser! Where did I go wrong? Mother, what did I do to deserve this?" I left him blubbering and hurried back to the fight.

The battle onstage careened to and fro, until Juupooku, the super-sized ninja, climbed to the floodlights and launched herself, stage left to stage right, over the other fighters, trying to strike me from above. I was standing near the front of the stage and met the descending behemoth with a thundering right cross.

The rafters shook and the large kunoichi crashed onto her back directly in front of Mom and Pops, who were bounced from their seats by the impact.

Pops turned to Mom with awe. "Did you see our boy?" he cried, "What a blow! Come'on, Cinderella! Hit'em again! Clobber 'em, Boy!"

HIROSHI: (The Power of Love)

About this time I spotted Kuno attempting to rise to his feet, while fighting off a jealous Mara. A nameless dread filled me. Then I was dodging a Locomotion missile fired by Sakku-chan and thought no more about it. I had other squid to fry, for Primrose had entered the arena. Gathering the shaken but not stirred Juupooku, she launched herself at me in a team attack. I had no time to even think - I met them with a mighty effort, straining even my magic muscles to keep from being overwhelmed.

Something ripped. Without looking, I knew what had happened, and looking only made it worse. The pin-stripe skirt had been made to tear up the side, while the rest of my clothes gave way in strategic places .

"Nabiki!" I roared, "I'll get you for this!" I was answered by a single camera flash, then a ripple of glaring light from multiple flashbulbs as the audience documented newly discovered scenic vistas.

Before I could attempt any martial arts tailoring, I heard Kuno emote, "Oh, Mighty Diana! Oh, My Beauteous Huntress! Know this, that I, Tatewaki Kuno...remove thy clutches from the fabric, demon-child!...do hereby swear his allegiance and express his...Urk..."

I didn't understand why I feared his statement, I only knew that I had to I shut him up before he completed it. I did this in the best way I knew how - by grabbing and dropping Primrose on top of him, as gently as possible. At this point I was still trying to keep from hurting her. Apparently there was one area in which I could outdo her - speed derived from embarrassed panic.

With Primrose temporarily out of the picture, the remaining step-sisters and step-mother were no problem to contain. I dropped them into the stage trap-door, dusted off my hands and turned to face my last true challenge.

I would have to fight...really fight... Primrose. I would have to chance hurting her, and I was not sure I was up to the task. She was not going to hesitate if it came to killing Cinderella. A lightning storm of flashbulbs erupted and I was reminded that I needed to do a little cover-up.

She had not returned to the stage by the time I had hastily fashioned a crude garment from the stage curtain. I looked for her offstage and my heart nearly failed. Primrose had found the wish card and I could hear, faintly, the sound of a mechanical voice:

- ping - - wish number one formatted - - preparing to format wish number zero - - holding for new owner -

There was still one wish left on the wish card, and the thing that had been Kidori was in possession.

"No.o.o.o.o.oo!" I cried, but it was too late.

"-It is mine!-" boomed Primrose, "-I make my wish! I wish to be whole again!-" The stage shuddered beneath my feet and tiny sparkles of fire danced about Primrose's head. Slowly, she reached up and, with an evil grin, removed the mask.

I gasped in agony when I saw that her eyes were still glowing. I had lost her.

Without the mask she still looked like Kidori, except for the telltale glow. The glow became a flame as she turned those eyes toward me and bellowed, "-Cinderella! I'll just have to finish you off, too, to make it official!-"

"Come on, then!" I could not quit, now. I had to stop her. Perhaps there was a way to help her, to undo the magic of the mask. Maybe I could get another wish, although I knew I was grasping at straws. "Come on! I'll fight you!" my voice broke and I sobbed, almost incoherent in my grief.

Brushing the tears away, I fumbled awkwardly. My hand looked too large. I explored further down and found that underneath the garment of curtain material, I was wearing my school uniform: white shirt and black pants. Cinderella was gone and I was myself, again.

For a moment, Primrose froze in shock, motionless, stunned by my sudden appearance. The glow dimmed in her eyes and it was Kidori who said, hesitantly, "H...Hiroshi? What are you doing here?"

At that moment I was swamped by memories; I didn't know what prompted them or why they came: The way she stumbled on stage when I had first seen her, with the wave of adulation from her fans sweeping over her. The look in her eyes at the concert when she had sung to me of the ninety-nine steps and how she was one step shy of deserving my love. The weakness I had felt when someone had said that they loved me. I knew then what I had to do.

She was vulnerable. The gods help me, I was going to use it against her.

"Kidori!" I cried, "I challenge you!"

She stiffened again, becoming Primrose - becoming an angry, vengeful warrior. "-No!-" her voice bellowed. She held her head in pain, as her eyes became lambent red again, and she roared, "-I will not permit it! Do you actually think you can face ME?-"

I could wait no longer. I drew a trembling breath and with all my strength and all my heart, I attacked.

"Kidori!" I cried, "Kidori! I love you!"

It was as if I had struck her with a hammer. She staggered backward and recovered, only to collapse to her knees, all the while vainly wiping as if the mask were still adhering to her face. Though she seemed to have taken a mortal blow, I could not be glad. This was her weakness - her paralyzing need to be loved. This was why she had stumbled before the audience's adulation and had almost fallen onstage the first time I saw her.

This, too, was why I had been made so helpless by Kuno's declaration of love for his 'Blue-clad Venus'. As Cinderella I had inherited both Primrose's strengths and her failings. Kuno had succeeded where many fans had not, because he meant what he gibbered - he was an idiot, but he was a sincere idiot.

The glow in Kidori's eyes faltered, faded, until she could look at me with tears glistening. She whispered, "Thank you, Hiroshi," and slumped to the stage floor. I reached for her as she fell, and as she fell, the stage opened up into a grassy meadow, still damp from recent rains. Distant trees ruffled in the breeze while clouds dimmed the sky. Still I reached, and still she fell, but I never got to her.

A hand fell on my shoulder and a throaty voice chuckled, "Way to go, kid. We'll take it from here." I turned to find a stunningly beautiful woman behind me, a woman with deep gray eyes, long, flowing white hair and a show-girl body in an eye-catching costume. She could have been a goddess.

"Wait! What are you doing?" I demanded, for several efficient looking women dressed in white furs had surrounded Kidori and were leading her from me. I heard her calling, but still, I could not get to her.

"We have to take her away. Trust me, it's for the best," the goddess said, gently holding me back. "Don't worry. I promise, before you know it she'll be back doing all the things ordinary girls get to do. But I'm afraid she can't do it the way she was. You can't see Kidori again."

"Look," she continued, when she saw that I still did not understand. "Seriously. She needs a rest. She's had a hard several lives, missed a lot because of her split soul. She had to regain the power of her anger without the mask, and then she had to restrain it before she hurt someone she loved. That's the only way we could heal her." As she started to fade, the goddess gave me a quick peck on the cheek and said, "Thanks, partner. We couldn't have done it without you!"

"But you can't take her away from me!" I cried, "I love her!"

"Of course you do!" her merry laughter melted into lacy clouds until the last thing I heard was, "That's what I do best!"

I was sobbing, in the middle of an empty meadow, and all the flowers in heaven could not console me. Suddenly the sun broke through. I looked around, she was gone and I was again onstage in the Furinkan gymnasium/auditorium.

And that was the last anyone ever saw of Kidori Nobara, the Primrose.

"Hey, what about my wish?" cried Nabiki, holding her camera ready, "You were supposed to pose for me!"

"That was if I won," I said, dispiritedly. "I lost, remember?"

She watched me slog away and her countenance fell. "Yeh," she said. "I remember. Tough luck, kid."

End: Chapter Seventeen

Partial listing of song titles:  
Do you Believe in Magic, (can't remember)  
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Cindy Lauper  
Poor Little Fool, Ricky Nelson  
The Power of Love, Huey Lewis and the News  
Hunka-Hunka Burning Love, Elvis Presley  
Great Balls of Fire, Jerry Lee Lewis


	18. Scattered Threads

Disclaimer: No humans have been harmed in the writing of this fanfic. The gerbil spokesbeast has categorically denied malicious rumors that parts of the fanfic were tested on live human subjects without proper precautions. Gerbils are nice furry little creatures who come in peace. Really. 

ASHES - A Cinderella Story

Chapter Eighteen/Epilog - Scattered Threads

Scattered threads, wind-tossed and blown  
How little of our life we own  
O wondrous fabric, cloth of chance  
Fate guides our steps, keeps true our dance

A fragile line, true love appears,  
Woven in amongst our fears  
And suits us find, when all seems lost  
A fair someone who's worth the cost  
For love is worth the price they say  
And love will always find a way.

Okay, folks. That's it. The show is over. While we're bagging up all the stale popcorn and dumping the ice from the drink machine, you can go ahead and delete this message so you can read the next one. All that is left is the wrap-up, and you know how boring those things are.

WRAPPING UP LOOSE ENDS:

The scene - a meeting of the Tendo daughters plus accumulated potential in-laws:

"I can't believe it! Daddy, actually taking advantage of someone?"

"What's so hard to believe?" snorted Ranma, "He ran around with my Pop for years. Some of it was bound to rub off on him."

The panda waved a sign, 'I do not shed!'

"What I mean," explained Nabiki patiently, "Was that he has never mistreated a woman, that I know about. And, now, with Miss Hinako..."

"He's been seeing Miss Hinako again?" Akane gasped, "Is that where he's been going every night?" Ranma froze at the tone of her voice, as if undecided whether to run or play dead.

"Hahaha!" Soun rattled nervously, "It's not like that at all! While Miss Hinako is an attractive lady, I have told her that I am not ready for another relationship. However, it was while I was letting her down gently that we discovered that we have a mutual interest."

"Oh, really, Father." When Kasumi spoke, the words seemed to loom like tethered barrage balloons, shutting out the light in the room, "And just what was this common interest the two of you have found?"

Soun appeared to deflate slightly. "We both share a love of exotic fish," he explained. "Haven't you ever noticed that the fish in our koi pond are the rare Carpus Delecti?"

"Naw," Ranma scratched the back of his head. "I allus thought they were just real good at dodgin'."

"There are also some lovely specimens at the reserved display in the museum. However, I can't get in because it is open only to members of the Academic Society. Now, it happens that Miss Hinako is a member, but she is embarrassed to keep going to the display by herself, so she gets me in so I can enjoy the fish, while she..."

Nabiki was the first to understand and fill in the blanks. "Our Miss Hinako has a boyfriend at the museum," she smirked.

Akane was nonplused. "I thought she was after Father," she said.

"She was. About like a bulldog holding on to the seat of your pants," said Ranma. Noticing the odd looks he was receiving, he added with a weak smile, "Y'had to be there."

You were too slow, boy!' signed the panda.

"She said she found him about the same time we first met," Soun commented. "A little after that little girl was visiting you. Seems she was looking for some very strong fighting fish. I can't imagine why."

HIROSHI: (It's My Party)

Hainoko looked very tiny as she put aside her toy tea set and looked up at me.

I bowed formally. "I am here for tea," I announced.

"I am very glad you could make it," she said as she laid out the cups and brush for her ceremony.

"Yeah. Well, uh...yeah. Nevertheless, I am here because of a wish." I saw the sadness recede - just a little - from her face, and had an unfamiliar urge to smile. "Why do I feel as if I have come to a funeral?"

"I miss Cin-chan."

"I...uh..."

"That's all right. I know you couldn't stay like that forever. Mommy says it would be bad for your lib...your lib..."

"Libido. No. You don't need to know what that means."

"You are my big brother. I know everything else about you. Including the fact that you are a klutz. But I...but...but..."

"Yeah," I shook my head, "I think you're kinda special, too. You're the only little sister I have."

"Oh, Big Brother!" she cried, jumping up to clamp my neck until I could not breath. She released me before I turned blue, tucked her arms behind her and swung back and forth in her I've Got A Secret' pose.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm not supposed to tell," she said.

"Tell me!" I demanded, and she shook her head. "Tell me?" I asked. "Tell your big brother so he won't have to beat on you?"

"Ooookaaay," she smiled all over, totally unfazed by my threats of violence. "I may still be your only little sister. Is is okay if I'm not?"

I shook my head. "I don't understand."

"Mommy's not really sick."

"Oh? Oh. Oh! Why didn't she tell us?"

"I heard her tell Poppy that she didn't want us to fight and be jealous."

"Let's go tell her we won't be jealous, then!"

She hesitated. "Sit down, first," she said solemnly, moving over and patting the cushion across the tiny tea table. "You won't have to come to tea again. I don't want to waste my wish."

"Wait. You made a wish?"

"Awhile back, I called heaven. A nice lady answered and said she'd fix everything," she forced the solemn frown away with a shaky smile. "I know you'd rather not play tea with me. I'm sorry that my wish forced you to do it."

"Oh. Yeah, well...those things happen, I guess."

"Anyway, I'm glad you're here."

"Me, too," I said as I sat on the small cushion and accepted a cup of make-believe tea. As I took a make-believe sip, I added, "Besides, who said this was YOUR wish?"

A mischievous grin spread across her face and she said, "Turtle!"

"Little, bitty, smelly insect!" I riposted.

"Crab," she countered.

"Spider monkey."

"Rhinocerous."

"Pekinese!"

"Warthog!"

"Children!" came the call from the kitchen, "Are you two fighting again?"

"Yes, Mom!" We answered in unison.

"Okay. That's nice. Just keep it down a little. Daddy's trying to watch the series."

"Hiroshi-kun?"

"Yes, Hai-chan?"

She giggled. "It sounds funny when you say that."

I scratched my ear. "Perhaps I should say it more often. You are kinda cute - for a little sister."

"But I was thinking. Pretty soon I will be a big sister, too. I'm kinda worried. What am I supposed to do? What if he...or she...runs into bullies like I did?"

"Then you will beat them up. Or call me. That's what big brothers are for, didn't you know?"

"I do now. Thanks, Hog-breath."

I knuckled her scalp. "Think nothing of it, Pack Rat. I want my Cinderella poster back."

"Biiiiihh!"

I was distracted by the doorbell. Without thinking, I threw the door open. I didn't quite close it in time.

"Good afternoon, Hiroshi," greeted my caller, who had jammed a shoe to keep the door open.

"Nabiki! Er...hi! What can I do for you? What are you doing around here?"

"Just in the neighborhood. Thought I might drop in and see how the little scamp is doing."

"She's okay, now. At least those kids at her school aren't bothering her anymore. You're pretty good."

"Really? Are you implying that I am scary?"

"Naw. Face it, Nabiki. Even I'm not scared of you any more. The wishes are over, and you have nothing to use against me."

"Oh?" Nabiki said as she pulled papers from her backsack, "How about nude photos of Cinderella?"

"Ack!"

"Just kidding! See? Blank paper."

"Don't do that! Why did you come around?"

"Oh, that. I brought you the bill for all those cameras I gave to the kids at Hainoko's school, so they could film any bullies."

"Accckk!"

"Expensive, weren't they? I want you to know that I did not make a yen profit off this deal and I will never forgive you."

"Oh," I said as I wiped the sweat from my face. "I can live with that."

SOMBODY TO LOVE:

Leaving Hiroshi's home, Nabiki picked up a companion and proceeded to the nearby neighborhood ginza. There, she tried to clear up any final misunderstandings with an associate.

"That's it? No more wishes?" she said, "I won't be left with the compulsion to hug any obnoxious moppets?"

"No, Nabiki Tendo. The wishes - except for the ones which were truly meant to occur - have all been erased."

"That's good," Nabiki sighed. "That's perfect. You realize how lucky you are, don't you? I could have inflicted some real pain if I hadn't been freed from that wish."

Ryoga gulped and nodded.

"And now..." she was interrupted by someone who bumped into her from behind. Since that person was less than a meter tall, Nabiki had to bend over to address her.

"What is it this time?" she asked.

"Auntie Nabiki! Can we go fishing?"

Nabiki gently pulled her lip to one side as she frowned and said, "I suppose so. And we have to get you back home soon, so your Mommy doesn't worry. Sure you don't want a drink first?"

"Nope! Yaaay! I'm gonna get a goldfish!"

Nabiki turned back to Ryoga and impaled him with her most fearsome glare. "Not. One. Word," she hissed.

Ryoga shook his head solemnly, impressed with the ferocity of her expression. He watched them hurry off toward the goldfish booth before he turned away.

Not until he had traveled for hours and could rest beside a campfire, in a grove of trees somewhere between Osaka and Nagasaki, did he allow himself a tiny smile.

HIROSHI (Sugar Shack):

"I know it would make everything simpler, but I'm having trouble with this whole reincarnation theory," I admitted, splashing sudsy water over another bowl.

"The Buddhists accept it," Akane offered. She took the bowl from me and wiped it with a dry towel.

"Easy for them. Pops is a devout pragmatist. Mom believes whatever the script tells her to believe. I don't know what to believe."

"The one I feel sorry for is Kidori," Ukyo said. She finished scraping the griddle and used her crutches to hobble over to the sink, handing the utensils to Akane who dumped them into the steaming water.

"Yeah," Ranma grunted with his mouth full. "She really didn't want to fight." It sounded like, 'shrlldnwndafggghhht'.

"That poor girl," breathed Ukyo. "She believed so strongly in her 'curse' that she thought you were her long-ago lover. She gave up her whole career to save you."

"Yeah." I could not look up from my hands. I was having trouble seeing them through the distortion. Where was the water coming from? The dishes were washed. I should be drying them, now.

"It was all because of that cursed mask her wicked stepmother had," said Akane, removing the drying rag from my hands and taking up where I left off. "She would never have tried to make Hiroshi love her if it hadn't been influencing her."

I glanced up at her and then away, stung by the pity I saw in her eyes. "She didn't do that," I said. "I lo...loved her, anyway. From the first moment I saw her. I wish she was still here."

Down the counter, a wayfarer was preparing for a long journey by stoking down all the food he could hold. He noticed my glance and glared back at me.

"Don't expect anything from me!" snapped Ryoga, "I don't do that kind of thing anymore!"

"Where'd she go, anyway?" Ukyo asked, readying a mixing bowl for the next batch.

"With those men from the hospital," replied Akane. "They put her in..." She paused, puzzled. "Funny. I can't remember an ambulance."

"I thought the attendants were women," Ukyo said. "But I've never seen uniforms like that, with fur jackets. What hospital uniforms have metal helmets with birdwings?"

"It was so sad," Akane said. "She was crying and reaching for Hiroshi as they took her away, but he could do nothing, just stand there all alone, talking to himself."

"I was talking to a woman," I said. "She said I would never see Kidori again. But then she said she would be soon be doing all the things normal girls did."

"Y'were alone," Ranma corrected me. It was the first clear words he had uttered since the super-sized okonomyaki had claimed his attention.

"Okay. I was alone," I said. I knew better, but I kept silent, remembering a promise.

Cologne gathered her wrap and motioned to Shampoo. On her way out the door, she peered closely at me. "Strange," she said. "I had the feeling they weren't quite through with you. I can still sense..."

She raised the tip of her cane and I jumped away from her faster than I had ever moved in my male life. From a safe distance, I called, "I'd rather you didn't examine me again, thank you very much!"

"Oh, it too, too sad. Shampoo hope you feel better, soon."

"Thanks, Shampoo. Me, too."

"Even if flower girl want to kill everyone."

"Err...right."

"Shampoo been working on manners. Say bye to spatula girl, too. And violent girl."

"Grrrrr..."

"Shampoo say bye to Ranma. Is not Shampoo polite and correct?"

"Well, yeah," Ranma said, warily. "I mean, it's unusual..."

"Ooo! Thank you, Airen!"

"Urf! Get offa me!"

Akane glared the Chinese pair out of the building, then spun about, hands on hips. "I saw that, Ranma! You enjoyed it, didn't you?"

"Whad'ya mean? She grabbed me!"

"You didn't have to hug her back!"

"I gotta go, fellas," I announced.

"What...I did not!" Ranma turned aside with Akane's finger poking at his eye, "Bye, Hirosh. Try to cheer up, willya?"

Akane halted her attack long enough to wave to me. "Bye, Hiroshi-kun! Don't worry, everything will turn out right!"

"Thanks, I hope so. See ya."

"Did, TOO!"

"I was pushing her away! She was all hands!"

GOOD THINGS COME TO HE WHO WAITS:

The door of the temple opened and the master recognised the wayfarer who had stopped to ask directions. "Ah!" said Sensei, "Welcome to the Temple of the Good Deed!"

Ryoga gawked. "But you're..." he sputtered.

Sensei slapped him on the back and closed the door behind him. "I am confident you won't tell my students of my 'other life', will you? We seem to have worked for the same lady."

"Eh...no, of course not! But what are you doing here?"

"I have a student about to graduate. Ah, here he comes, now!"

Basho came into the room and sat beside Ryoga, who shifted uneasily. "Aren't you upset with me?" Ryoga asked, "I thought I disturbed your tranquility."

"Not at all!" Basho beamed in good cheer, slapping Ryoga's knee in comradely fashion, "That is all done. I am past such distractions. I have finally finished my trials and now I am qualified to receive the final teaching!"

From a dusty bin, Sensei fumbled out a tiny scroll of rice paper, ancient and soiled with the handling of generations. He proferred the scroll to Basho with the words, "To you, I present the scroll which is the last and greatest illumination, the penultimate teaching of the Temple of the Good Deed!"

Basho unrolled the paper eagerly, only to become red-faced and slam it to the table.

"Is this what I have been striving to learn?" He demanded. "Did I waste years of my life, years that could have been spent doing something productive, like chasing women? Is this why I have deprived myself of the comforts of life?"

"Like another Basho, you have endured much," Sensei told him. "That Basho once said, 'before I became enlightened, I ate, I drank, and I farted. Then I went off to learn, and I became very knowledgeable about what I ate, and what I drank, and I never farted in public. Now that I am enlightened, I drink, I eat, and I fart.'"

"But what does it mean?" cried Basho.

"Go outside, watch the sun and the clouds for an hour, then come back. I will tell you."

Ryoga watched the irate monk slam the door on his way out. "May I see the scroll?" he asked.

"Certainly," Sensei handed it to him. "However, it means nothing if you have not worked and sacrificed as he has."

Ryoga unrolled the scroll and read.

-No good deed goes unpunished.-

"What's so great about it?" asked Ryoga, "I know that. Everybody knows that!"

"Ah," smiled Sensei. "But knowledge is cheap. Truth comes dear."

The door slammed open again. "I'm quitting!" cried Basho. He threw open the closet door, yelling, "I'm going into town and find a woman, and I'm not coming back until...until..."

"I like Strawberry-banana, myself," said Sensei. "How about you?"

Basho stopped as if poleaxed, his face twitching while the older man's words rattled about in his skull. Eventually he nodded. With unfocused eyes he drew off his robe to stand in ragged shorts, selected a shirt and pants, and put them on as if in a trance.

"At first I was going to go into town, have a steak and a beer and chat with the pretty waitresses," said Basho. "Then it hit me how selfish I have been, all these years, feeling righteous because I denied myself, thinking I was helping others. When all I was doing was forcing my ideas of right and wrong upon them."

He drew himself up to his tallest obesity and proclaimed, "So, I have decided to go and apologize to each and every one of them. And then I'm going into town, have a steak and a beer and chat with the pretty waitresses!"

The door slammed, then reopened immediately. Basho popped back in to say, "Oh! Yeah! Lime!"

"What the heck is going on around here?" demanded Ryoga.

"Jell-O," said Sensei. "Care to stay for dinner? We're having a treat. Pigs in a blanket."

"No, thanks," Ryoga shuddered as he turned to leave.

"Don't go out that gate, though," warned Sensei. "The creek is up and the bridge..." he was interrupted by a splash, "...has been weakened."

HIROSHI: (The Rain, The Park and Other Things/I Love the Flower Girl):

I saw Hainoko to her school the next morning. I didn't have to do it, I just felt like it, okay? Anyway, as soon as she got there, that boy who liked to hang around her began to insult her new hairdo. When I started to call him down, Hainoko told me, in effect, "Thank you for walking me to school, goodbye, get lost."

Sisters. Just when you think you understand them, they get silly.

The day was breezy and warm. School was peaceful, which was unusual but nice, since I wanted some quiet. Daisuke yawned, stretched and complained as we waited in line to get a drink of cold water from the fountain.

"Back to the humdrum," he said. "Back to the same old thing. School-days are the pits."

Someone jostled me. I turned to see a cute but unfamiliar face. I said, "Oh, excuse me."

"You're excused," she said in a breathy voice, as if she had just finished a sprint. "Just don't do it again!"

"Ooookay...My name is Hiroshi. What's yours? I don't recall seeing you around."

"My name is Uchiko," she said gruffly. "Who is this Miss Hinako? I'm supposed to get her to assign me a study partner." She had a rough-and-ready air, a tough girl carrying an armload of books. Many of the books were from earlier in the session - this told me that she had only recently enrolled and was trying hard to catch up with the rest of us.

"Hey, you'll be in our class!" I indicated myself and Daisuke.

She gave me a look as if I had just crawled out from under a rock. Rolling her upper lip, she said, "Like that's a privilege?"

"Ouch," said Daisuke. He used his finger-tip to mark the score in the air: Girl 1, Hiroshi 0. Stay tuned for the shut-out.

She was getting under my skin. She was cute, in a thorny way, but I was already tired of her attitude. I didn't know why she was so angry with me. I certainly hadn't been the one to dash all the way across the school yard to talk to her.

That was what was bothering me. She had gone out of her way to meet me. She had ignored several other guys who were more poised and polished than I, had brushed past Daisuke and started to bug me as if I had been making faces at her.

"Forget it," I said, feeling sullen and sorry for myself. I almost said, 'Buzz off. I don't need you pestering me,' but the incongruity of the situation fascinated me. She was being a pain in the neck, she was bitching at me, and I had not done a thing to start it. However, I remembered Hainoko and the little boy who was picking on her. She liked him. I had decided that he liked her, too. A light came on, but I dodged it. Did Uchiko like me?

"Listen, Buster!" she said, "I've dealt with bigger punks than you, and I can take you on, any day of the week!"

I gulped. "Then you won't be interested?" I asked, my voice a triumph of casual indifference. I was proud of the way it barely quavered as she waved her fist at me.

She speared me with a razor glance and growled, "In exactly what?"

"We could study together?" I said, hopefully.

"We..." she held my gaze for a moment longer before her books started sliding out of her hands. She managed to catch most of them. One worn volume, decorated with tiny yellow flowers, flipped opened when it hit the ground. It looked like a diary, and the bookmark was a blue ribbon. I managed to read 'Hiroshi loves Ki...' before she snatched it away. "Do you mind?" she growled, "That's personal!"

No harm in asking a question, "Did you like to listen to Cinderella?"

Her answer was a suspicious glare. "What of it?" she demanded.

"I loved Primrose, myself. She had a special quality."

"...Indeed," she said in an almost-sneer. "I always thought she was stuck-up...hiding something, know what I mean? Now, Cinderella-chan...y'know, I'd really love to hear her sing again. She was always so, you know, spontaneous."

I turned my face from her, for I felt a crooked smile starting to form. "Well, yes," I said. "There is that. She was spontaneous. But no one will ever see her again." I remembered the silver- haired woman's face when she had spoken those same words on the stage, and my smile faded. I would never see Kidori again. Kidori was gone. Yet, somewhere, she should be doing the things normal girls did. Well, the same things nearly-normal girls would do.

"I mean, it's like I had this dream," Uchiko's voice became warm and thoughtful, "I'm on stage, there's this killer band playing like there's no tomorrow, I'm singing this song, and Cinderella- chan joins me in a duet, and he and I would...get me, would you? I meant 'she' and I said 'he'. Anyway, it was just a dream."

The wind had caught up two flowers and pummeled them into the sky, twirling them high above the soccer field. The yellow petals spun like helicopter blades. They might have been the slashing swords of dueling samurai, reflecting the afternoon sun. As I watched them the pain eased somewhat, floating in the updraft, and I said, softly, "...or a memory..."

She expelled her breath with a gruff, "Okay."

I looked over my shoulder at her. "Okay, what?"

"Okay, I'll study with you. It's not like I need it. But maybe I can help you. You can't be all that bright or anything, running around with Furinkan's poster child for Lonely Hearts."

Daisuke was close enough to hear this last statement, and he clamped his jaw shut with anger. Then he saw her sly glance. His eyebrow performed a Spockian escalation and I could almost hear his mental abacus rattle - score one more for the babe.

"Um," he said.

"What?"

"Are there any more like you, where you came from?"

A grin lighted her face. "I can't believe it!" she laughed. "A compliment? G'wan!"

"I don't get many complaints," he said, smoothing his hair along with his pride.

"Oh, really? But, I suppose not," she had seemed ready to lacerate him with a barbed blade of sarcasm, but she pulled herself back under control. Her next words were milder, "I'll go easy on you, seein's how you're a friend of my pal, here."

I felt my heart pause in confusion, then resume beating at an accelerated pace.

To me, she turned a wicked grin, "A memory. Do you realize how damn poetic that is? Are you a singer?"

"Poetic? Not me," I said. "And I can't sing. Not even a note."

"Ain't it the truth," promised Daisuke. "Except when he was..." He shut up when he saw me glaring at him.

"I like to sing. Come on," she said, grabbing my arm and dragging me along. "Let's skip this line. I want to get started studying." Daisuke, seeing that he was not included, faded away before I could call him back.

As we made our way to study hall, she shifted her burden of books to one side and used her free hand to check out my biceps. "Do you work out?" she asked, releasing my arm to fall limply back to my side.

"Not much," I admitted.

"Go out for sports? Track? Lifting more than the absolute minimum weight you can get away with?"

I glanced over at her, the way she was wearing her uniform cut dangerously close to school limits, her socks embroidered with the kanji for 'explosive' and 'ruthless'. She didn't look like Kidori. Unless you saw her eyes, and the way those eyes returned the gaze. "What's that you're humming?" I asked.

"Oh, just something I heard, once, a long time ago. 'Feels like centuries, lost without a clue, traveled the whole world over, trying to find you.' Some old mopey sad song. It's nothing, really." Uchiko jabbed me in the arm. "You're pathetic!" she said. "Let's face it, Haj. Me and you got some serious work ahead of us."

I was in trouble. She was going to wad me up and throw me against the wall unless I muscled up to meet her standards, which I never would. After she had used me up and drained me dry, she would probably leave me because I was not good enough.

But until then...

I looked into those eyes. They promised hurt, pain, humiliation, blood, sweat and tears. And beyond it all...Love?

Yeah. I could live with that.

We went on, making only a few small detours around a kendoist chasing a girl in China silk shirt and trousers, an okonimayaki chef bearing a platter of goodies chasing the girl and the kendoist, a Chinese girl carrying an order of takeout ramen on a bicycle who was chasing them all, as well as a curly-haired girl chasing a little black pig.

I'M SORRY:

"Bored, bored, bored, bored!"

Daisuke sulked along the walkway, pausing to lean against a column. Restlessness overcame him and he moved on. Fooling around was no fun without your best buddy, and his best buddy was studying with a girl. Hiroshi was going to be no company at all, for a long time. Until this Uchiko got tired of him being such a wimp, she was going to occupy all his time.

Dai spied a familiar face coming toward him across the school ground, a monk in a neatly cleaned habit and an anxious air. "I am looking for your friend, Master Hiroshi?" Basho asked. "I have made a vow to apologize to all the people I have made unhappy by trying to help them, and he is the last one before I can take a vacation."

"Sure," Daisuke shrugged. "He's over in the...what did you do to make him unhappy?"

"I made his wish SO complicated! I'm here to return things to normal. It is my new philosophy at the Temple of the Good Deed."

"Oh. He's over in the...what do you mean by normal?"

"Exactly the way they were before I met him."

"Oh? Oh. Oh! Now, where did I see him?" Daisuke sputtered for a moment, before coming up with an idea. "Try the gym. Then the chemistry lab. If he's not there, he'll be in study hall."

UP ON THE ROOF:

On the gymnasium roof, Mara held the struggling black pig high as she gloated, "Thought you could get away from me, didn't you? Well, you can see you're wrong! Now, give me that control!"

"It won't do you any good," spoke a short, dark and scrawny man. He was seated on a ventilator shaft cover, buffing his nails.

"Why not?" railed Mara, "When you recruited me for your project, you promised! You lied!"

"I never promised. Hinted, maybe. Suggested. Speculated out loud. Ran it up the flagpole to see who saluted," Loki looked straight at her. "You see anyone saluting?"

When she said nothing except to glare at him, he added, "I'm surprised at you, Young One. Didn't you recognise the workings of the Ultimate Force in this game?"

"It's not a game to me, you warped, twisted, perverted piece of trash! Why, you'd...you'd..." Mara stopped to pant heavily for a moment. "I never thought I'd say this! You're as good as a demon! And all the time, I thought you were working for the side of heaven!"

"Of course! So were you, in a manner of speaking. Don't breath a word of it, though. If word got out, it'd play...oh, you know...with the market."

"Hell!"

"Well, whatever."

"And just why won't it do me any good?"

"The PDA has been inactivated. Your assignment is over. So is his," Loki pointed at the black pig who had become board stiff in panic, and tut-tutted. "No, I suppose you didn't consider the Ultimate Force. Still, it's nice to know you've been exposed to it without suffering damage. How'd you like to have your old age back?"

"What do you mean, 'OLD age'?" Mara sputtered.

"If you can keep still without becoming emotional, this music box will restore you to your true age." Loki showed her a tiny radio, which began playing, 'Go Away, Little Girl.'

Mara jerked, feeling her feet start to respond in a dance step. She leaped away from him in alarm and grabbed a hammer from somewhere, flattening the device with one blow.

"What game are you playing now, Old Fool?" she cried, "You've caused me nothing but trouble! Because of you I've been making a fool of myself chasing mortals around like a love-sick puppy! Why should I expect any less from that thing? I'm through with that!"

"Aww. It's only made you a couple of years older. Didn't you want it to finish the job? Otherwise, you'll have to wait six more months, and you've never been a patient demoness, I might add."

"Your concern touches me, Old Man!" Mara made an obscene gesture as he turned to go. "I'll see you in hell!"

"Not mine to decide," Loki said over his shoulder. "Oh, by the way, that is no ordinary pig. In case you are interested, this fellow happens to be very mortal."

"I know that! I've seen the signs of magic on him! I thought it was your doing!"

"Oh, it's not my curse that he bears. However, since he saved my bacon, I suppose I'll have to save his." Saying this, Loki produced a kettle of hot water and handed it to her, while plopping a bundle of clothing down by the pig.

"He's protected, for the moment, Mara. Pour the hot water on him and apologize. He's sort of like one of those little dinosaur toys you get in your breakfast cereal."

"I don't eat breakfast cereal!"

Loki grinned. "Then why do I find empty boxes of 'Unlucky Charms' in your kitchen trash?"

As he poofed out of existence, Mara gave the kettle a doubtful look and tilted it.

YOU'VE GOT TO STOP YOUR EVIL WAYS:

The silver-haired goddess/norn rested a tanned elbow on her companion's shoulder and drawled, "Well, Loki-sama, y'got past me. I really didn't expect you to pull it off."

"Don't tell me you knew all the details about my task?" Her companion asked, a slight man with a whisper of power leaking from beneath his frail features.

"When you played that prank on that samurai, you pulled a thread in old Freya's loom. She doesn't like to have souls split - it makes her irritable. Besides, it interferes with the pattern she's weaving."

Loki gazed at her, his dark eyes twinkling. "And I suppose she gossiped to you? She's such a fussbudget, getting the bean-counters up in arms. All because of some harmless joke. You're the Goddess of Love. Surely you can appreciate what I did was for the sake of those two lovers, long ago."

"I am also the Norn of the Past, Loki-baby. The head bean- counter that you've been railing about. The one who called you down. And, by the rules, the one who has to mete out your punishment." Urd showed her teeth in a bitter smile, "Sorry to tell you, old chum. Your show wasn't enough, and Freya wants her pound of immortal flesh, anyway. I've summoned Cerebus over to handle the punishment."

"Does that woman never let up? I'm miserable enough, I might say! Can you imagine having to listen to Rockn'Roll for fourteen fights?" Loki spoke with a sigh, "Ah, well. If I must go, let me go with dignity."

"Yup, you got my sympathy, for what little good it will do you. Better buck up - here comes the mangy beast, now...What?" Urd brought herself up short and gaped at the tawny yellow creature which had appeared before her.

Even the normally unflappable Loki was shaken. "Urd-chan," he said. "I'm not the sort to belabor a sore point, about some rumored difficulty you might have with your spells..."

"Then don't!" she snarled.

"...but it appears that this time you may have outdone yourself. This creature is hideous!"

Urd cried, "I sent for Cerebus! Who are you?"

"What do you mean, Cerebus! I am Keroboros!" snapped the creature. "Can't you immortals get anything right?"

"There went my dignity," Loki said.

"Oh, great," Urd rested her forehead in the palm of a hand for a moment, then said to the hovering winged creature, "Are you supposed to punish Loki? You don't look very imposing."

"Well, I am indeed! Don't let the cuddly looks fool you! If you make me angry, you'll be sorry!"

"I'm very frightened, I might say," quavered Loki convincingly. "You are one tough cookie...I mean dog."

"Lion! Lion!"

"Lion, I really meant to say!"

"It'll only make things worse if you try to make fun of me, I'm warning you! I've been commanded to punish you for two solid months, but I can make it longer, if necessary!" The cuddly winged lion grasped Loki's collar and pulled the god to him, which meant that he pulled himself close enough to snarl into Loki's face, "Now, what makes you most miserable?"

Loki pondered, producing a pained expression, as if he were indeed thinking of unpleasant things. Finally, he begged, "The one place I most fear! Let me think...oh, yes. Have you ever heard of a briar patch?"

The little lion shuddered. "No briar patch. My skin would tear and my stuffing would leak out!"

"Oh. Then please, please, don't force me to spend time in a tavern! The smell of the fermentation sickens me and the sound of those games are enough to burst my eardrums!"

"Games? Hmmm...games scare you?"

"Oh, terribly! Especially those with video - you know, television screens? Scare the frost right out of me. Can't sleep for a month after I see one of those!"

"Very interesting! Video games, hah?"

"Now, wait a minute," Urd tried to interpose.

"Terrifying! And the worst places are game parlors that serve beer. Or ale. Or sake. Terrible stuff, hard liquor. I prefer a nice, tasty root beer, myself."

"It's too late! You have confessed your private fears to me! Now, I will force you to spend the next sixty days in one of those torture chambers!"

"One with video games? Oh, that is cold-hearted of you, I must say!"

"Right! I can't show you an ounce of mercy!"

"Are you two quite finished?" Urd asked, having trouble keeping a straight face.

"Suits me," Keroboros concluded.

"I'm good," agreed Loki.

Urd sighed, "Then I officially start the festivities...I mean, the punishment. Don't be out late."

ON THE ROAD AGAIN:

There was an uneasy peace between them - although it was more like the hound and the fox gasping for breath on the trail, too tired to continue the chase. They sat side by side on the roof of the auditorium, high above the flow of students, watching life resume what was considered to be ordinary at Furinkan High.

"It was all for nothing!" complained Mara, pounding her knee with a clenched fist. "After I finally track you down, I still did not get what I wanted!"

"What about me?" Ryoga replied, shifting away from her. "Nobody even asked what I wanted! I have been put through hell and it is all your fault!"

Mara shrugged, "I was this close! If you had slowed down even a little, I could have caught you!" She drew back and slugged him in the shoulder. When the blow had the same effect as a snowflake trying to stop a freight train - that is, none - she took another frowning look at his muscular arm.

"That was part of my hell!" Ryoga gave her a stony look. "Have you forgotten that remark about cooking me?" He turned away from her, glaring out over the school grounds.

"Spoken in the heat of the moment. I'm really not that bad a demoness," her frown was beginning to thaw as she quirked an eyebrow. "Nice biceps," she commented, to no one in particular.

"I cannot believe that you expect me to just stand here and listen while you try to explain yourself! You ran me all over Japan!" Ryoga had been staring out over the soccer field at the far fence when he felt someone watching him. Gradually, his gaze slid to the side until, out of the corner of his eye, he could see that there was a soft demoness leaning on his shoulder.

With her eyes half closed, she smiled at him. She was so close that he could feel the heat of her breath on his cheek, her voice a growl and a purr as she spoke.

"Oooooo. Fangs!"

Ryoga narrowed his near eye while the far eye opened wide in panic.

"Uh-oh," he said.

- Almost the end:

We've had fun weaving words that rhyme  
But we can't mess with Father Time  
While everybody's doing well  
We'll blow a kiss and wave farewell.

But first -

On the wooded rise beyond the soccer field stood a solitary figure, a sinister smile playing across his face. He considered the object in his hand, a device that could spell revenge. He could reclaim the old days. Memories of bygone days tantalized him as he pondered his next move.

Should he alert Nabiki?

Naaah. Let her scheme up her own agenda, that's what she was good at. This was his play. He would face the challenge alone.

"Just you wait, Hiroshi!" cried Daisuke, "One of these days she's going to tire of your wimpy vacillations and your prurient wanderings! Then she'll drop you and you can be my buddy again! Heh. Hehehehehe...heh...hac...cof..." He looked around furtively to see if anyone had heard.

"Frack!" he muttered, "My evil laugh sounds crappy. Guess I'll have to scratch supervillian off my list of career objectives... Maybe I'll settle for being a sidekick."

Inserting the tape into his pocket tape player, Daisuke adjusted his headset as he made his way toward study hall. Yep, he mused, things were going to be interesting. Everything was going to be fine. He smiled serenely as he strolled, listening to his favorite song:

"You've asked me what I want to do,  
you've wondered from the start...  
I'll tell you what I know is true,  
I have to win your heart!"

If he timed it just right, he could be there when Basho arrived. Still, he had to wonder. Where had it all begun? Who had started the whole wishball rolling?

Far off in heaven, someone sneezed.

-

Really the End:

OVER AND OVER AGAIN:

The plaque above her desk read, He who fails to remember the past is condemned to repeat it - Hayakawa'. At the moment, it was slightly askew, displaced by the force of her sneeze.

Stupid one-minute viruses, thought Urd, as she positioned the plaque and adjusted her headset. She re-established the connection and said warmly, "Just wanted to say thanks for the assist, Sensei."

"'Sensei'," the mortal repeated, his voice conveying a smile over the telephone - a softer smile than the one his students usually saw. "I been meaning t'ask you bout dat. Now, what an old fool like this kieke be teaching a young vahine-sama like you?"

"Oh, I don't know," Urd chuckled, "Except that sometimes those past mistakes are the best kind."

She signed off and leaned back, stretching, relaxing for the first time in days. Six months without Mara. Could she stand the boredom? "Better not go there," she chuckled, and decided to take a well-earned nap.

-

End: Epilog - Ashes: A Cinderella Story

I bid adieu, I'm pleased to note  
This last chapter's all she wrote.  
Sing and dance and weave and then  
God keep you 'til we meet again.

James and the Bluejay

Partial list of song and name-droppings:  
It's My Party (and I'll cry if I want to), by Leslie Gore  
Somebody to Love, Jefferson Airplane  
The Rain, The Park and Other Things, the Cowsills  
I'm Sorry, (can't remember)  
Up on the Roof, the Drifters  
On the Road Again, Willie Nelson  
Over and Over Again, (can't remember)


End file.
